


Remedy

by CynziDragonPazza



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Homestuck, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ashen Romance | Auspistice, Background Relationships, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, F/F, F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Hetalia Characters - Freeform, M/M, Multi, Original Characters - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Remedy 2.0, also aromantic asexual Jake, and Jake and Roxy being moirails, and a lot better in characterization, cowritten with my moisprit, it's a remake of my original clusterfuck, my muse haha, only better written, technically Dirk/Jane isn't so much romantic as in between flushed and pale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-14 18:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7185986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynziDragonPazza/pseuds/CynziDragonPazza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A virtual reality video game gone horribly wrong. Timelines through universes connected by a terrible presence posed to send all to oblivion in a swirl of darkness. An anomaly tied to an innocent soul.</p><p>The players of SGRUB have figured out that something strange is going on with their session. Beings called humans are connecting to them, from universes in the future. The timeline is doomed, but not crumbling into mass murder and psychotic chaos. It's possible that they do in fact have a second chance at not only succeeding at the game, but also in destroying the virus that's attacking everything. But even with bonds starting to crumble, they can be repaired and held tightly, made to be stronger than ever. And with the success of each bond, the conclusion of each time loop or quest and confrontation with a Denizen, the chances of defeating the darkness grow stronger than ever.</p><p>Karkat Vantas swore when the game began to keep his friends safe. But even as he leads his friends to the light, what he doesn't realize is that the closer to light they come, the greater their shadows grow...</p><p>Don't be afraid, for you are the one who will open the door.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude: First Contact

Something about this session was...different. She knew already that it was a doomed timeline, but at the same time it didn’t have the same feeling as what her other selves had felt. There was another influence on the timeline, something that wasn’t due to any Exiles or Agents, not even the Horrorterrors. There was still a sense of ancient hands guiding them, but she truly had no idea what it was.

Normally she would have felt it was pointless and just waited until the time was right to skip off into the Alpha timeline, but something held her back.

Namely, the sudden unknown Trollian chat window that appeared on her husktop.

MgTi: Good evening, Miss Megido. I trust you’re having a pleasant night?  
AA: as much as i can be  
AA: but i think that y0u already kn0w this  
AA: and since y0ure the one contacting me i guess it means y0ure the 0ne keeping this timeline fr0m its true d00med existence  
MgTi: Something along those lines, yes.  
MgTi: However, it is a little more complicated than that, so please bear with me.  
MgTi: Due to paradoxes I cannot fully reveal what is happening, nor am I able to fully forewarn you.  
MgTi: I can instead tell you what you currently need to know as well as advise you on what you should do to help your friends in this particular session.  
AA: alright  
AA: n0rmally i w0uld think this is p0intless but f0r s0me reas0n i feel like i can trust y0u  
MgTi: That would be because we are both Time players, Miss Megido.  
MgTi: And as one of my session’s Time players, I felt it would be best to reach out to you. One of our other Time players will be messaging you soon, I presume.  
AA: 0k  
AA: what can y0u tell me  
MgTi: First, I am so sorry for what my session accidentally released  
MgTi: Second, your session is currently infected with a virus, one that we created unintentionally.  
MgTi: It is why we--that is, my session’s players--have all our hands in the pudding so to speak.  
MgTi: Of course, only some of us will be constantly interacting with your players, as well as the session’s players in the universe you create.  
MgTi: There are so many that we had to narrow it down to who would be best suited for this kind of thing.  
MgTi: And we are contacting you to help guide you as much as we can, until circumstances say otherwise.  
AA: s0 what d0es it mean basically  
MgTi: If we don’t stop this virus, well…  
MgTi: All iterations of you, us, and every timeline will cease to exist.


	2. Forging Diamonds

The Land of Pulse and Haze, when he thought about it, wasn’t that bad. The faint pallor of clouds covering the sky and mostly blocking out the light of Skaia could be a bit annoying, but he liked the near-permanent twilight of his planet. The crumbling ruins of castles made for surprisingly excellent homes for the bearded dragons that were his consorts. The castles were also fun to explore when not being attacked by annoying imps and basilisks. There was so little color though, mostly black obsidian and gray stone. Well, other than the bright red of the rivers intersecting through the rocks. And the doors hidden around the planet. What was infuriating him about each one was that, while it led to a quest, he couldn’t access any of them! They seemed to all be locked, almost all of them with his Blood symbol superimposed over another aspect.

“Oh come the fuck on, not another one!” Karkat threw his scythe at the door in front of him with a snarl. It of course bounced off, another useless endeavor on a planet of useless quests blocked by all these fucking doors! He couldn’t take it anymore! Out of sheer frustration he pulled his husktop out (thankfully his sylladex was set up so that when he opened up one crypt vault it stayed open so long as he put the same item back in). This door in particular was marked with both his and Kanaya’s symbol, so hopefully she was available.

\- carcinoGeneticist [CG] started trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA] -

CG: HEY KANAYA ARE YOU AWAKE? I DON’T REMEMBER WHAT YOUR HOURS OR SLEEP SCHEDULE IS ANYMORE.  
CG: KIND OF MAKES ME MISS ALTERNIA IN THAT IT MADE IT EASY TO KNOW WHEN YOU WERE OR WEREN’T AWAKE.  
GA: Dont Worry Im Here  
GA: Not Really Doing Much Of Anything To Be Honest  
GA: Except Developing A Sudden Skill In Canoeing On My Planet  
CG: WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU CANOEING?  
GA: I Have Literally Nothing Else To Do And Its The Only Way To Reach The Volcano Which Is According To My Grubmother Is The Forge That Must Be Lit  
GA: My Planet Is Covered In Water Which Makes Things Rather Challenging  
CG: OH. WELL SHIT, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A PAIN IN THE ASS. DO YOU WANT TO TAKE A BREAK FOR A BIT? I COULD USE YOUR HELP I THINK.  
GA: Oh  
GA: With What  
CG: OKAY SO, THIS IS GOING TO SOUND COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS. BUT I CAN’T ACTUALLY DO ANY OF MY QUESTS.  
GA: You Cant  
CG: NONE WHATSO-FUCKING-EVER.  
CG: ALMOST ALL OF MY DOORS ARE LOCKED AND HAVE DIFFERENT SYMBOLS ON THEM. THERE’S ONE THAT I CAN OPEN BUT IT LEADS TO MY DENIZEN, WHICH I KNOW I’M NOT READY TO FACE YET.  
CG: AND THEN THERE’S ONE THAT’S JUST…  
CG: THERE ARE NO WORDS, HONESTLY.  
CG: SO I’M JUST STANDING AROUND LIKE A STUPID LONE HOWLBEAST GLARING AT THIS DOOR HOPING IT’LL OPEN. BUT IT HAS YOUR SYMBOL AND MINE, SO MAYBE YOU CAN COME CHECK IT OUT?  
GA: That Actually Sounds Like A Splendid Idea Karkat  
GA: Please Give Me One Moment To Paddle Back To My Hive And I Shall Be There Within The Half Hour  
CG: OH THANK SWEET FUCKING JEGUS  
GA: Whos Jegus  
CG: ...YOU KNOW, I HAVE NO IDEA.  
CG: ANYWAY, SEE YOU SOON KANAYA.  
GA: Yes Ill See You Soon

\- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA] -

When Kanaya found him he was pacing in front of a large black door, the white spokes of the Space symbol marred by the slash of Blood. It seemed to match well though. “I can see that this has been a frustrating endeavor.”

“What was your first clue?” Karkat snarled, but then he caught himself with a smack to his forehead. “Ugh, sorry. I’m just getting tired of this! At this rate I’m never going to get anywhere! I figured hell, maybe since it’s your symbol with mine you can help me out.”

The jadeblood hummed to herself and walked up to the door. After a moment she pressed her hand against it and applied some force. It moved, but only slightly. “I think we have to push it open together. If that’s the case, then it might be something that we have to complete as a team.”

“...Huh, makes sense.” Karkat joined her and the two pushed at the same time. There was an ominous screech as the doors slowly swung open. The darkness was a little disconcerting, he had to admit. But he simply shrugged and moved inside after a moment, Kanaya following. What startled them both, and him into almost jumping into his arms, was when the doors closed with a harsh _SLAM_ behind them. “Oh fuck!”

“You took the word right out of my mouth.” Kanaya winced a bit when lights above suddenly flickered on. What was in front of them on the wall though surprised her.

It was a tapestry. An incomplete one though, to be certain. There was a large blue and green planet in the middle of the black cloth--odd, it didn’t look like any of theirs--and twelve constellations hovered around them. Next to the cloth was a plaque with what she figured were instructions. Beneath lay the supplies needed for embroidery.

Karkat gaped. “...Our...our quest is fucking _sewing_?”

“Embroidery to be exact. But it seems to be, yes.” Kanaya moved forward and started examining the threads offered. Many different hues of the rainbow, and yet one color was conspicuously absent. Hm. A familiar key showed up between the different spools and she pulled it out. “I wonder what this’ll do.”

Unlocking the correct card led, to her horror, to an avalanche of cushions and pillows. In fact, it was enough for a pile. Karkat jumped back from it and looked from the fabricated comfort to a bright green Kanaya. “Uh.”

Kanaya bit her lip and she looked away, clasping her hands tightly at her waist. “...I...may have been hoping for a feels jam with Vriska for a while.” Karkat frowned at the tone in Kanaya’s voice but didn’t speak for a bit. After a moment she looked back to see him condensing the cushions into a usable pile. “Karkat…?”

“Look, your moirail’s being a shithead and clearly not doing her job,” he grumbled, glad that he had the grey foundation still on his cheeks. “And that chastity thing of yours lets you open what you need, right? I’m gonna guess this is saying you need a real feelings jam, and since your moirail’s a fucking self-absorbed histrionic bitch, I’ll fill in the role.”

Kanaya’s mouth finally moved itself from its hanging position. “You...are you sure about that?”

“Well, Kanaya, you’re a pale babe,” Karkat said with an embarrassed grin. “If Vriska can’t see just how perfect you are, she’s blind as Terezi--nah, even worse,” he mused for a moment, “she can see with smell after all.” He finished stacking the pillows and turned to the tapestry. “Let’s get that fucker down.”

“Well...if you insist.” Kanaya’s heart skipped a couple of beats out of nerves as she stepped up to find where the tapestry hung. It had been so long since she had had a proper feels jam, and really, Karkat was one of--no, he _was_ her best friend. Perhaps this was supposed to happen. Still, she couldn’t help the guilt bubbling in her gut. Vriska was supposed to be her moirail, even if she...wasn’t being a very good one.

It didn’t take the two of them long to get the fabric down, and Karkat looked at the plaque. “It says something about putting our signs in the sky so they can shine down on...Eeareth?”

“I believe it’s supposed to be Earth,” Kanaya offered. She scanned the words and nodded. “We save ourselves for last and put our friends first. And...huh. We have to sew each other’s sign. It must be a Blood thing, because I can’t see how this helps me out personally.”

Karkat shrugged, not really bothering to glance at the array of colored thread. “Could be worse. Could be a strife or some stupid thing like that. So, we each do five, and then take care of each other’s. Which ones do you want to do?”

“I can take the lower colors,” she reassured him. “That will leave you with Vriska on up.” The mere mention of the spidertroll made her mouth twitch in a slight grimace.

Karkat noted the twitch but nodded, and he grabbed the chest of supplies and dragged it over to the pile. “Okay, let’s get cozy and then you can show me how to even use a needle without poking my eye out.” The mental image of somehow causing a mishap like that made Kanaya laugh, and he grinned. “Come on, I promise I won’t even pap you.”

“Nono, it’s fine!” She giggled a little more as she brought the smaller chest filled with the rainbow over with her. There was a bit of hesitance, but then she allowed herself to sink into the pillows with a sigh. Karkat joined her with a plop, and soon they had managed to get the rings over their appropriate beginnings. “The easiest way to do it when you don’t have a guide is to make an outline of the shape,” she said, already threading a needle with the maroon of Aradia. “It helps to make sure you stay on track, and if you find a mistake you don’t have to pull out the entire thing. The stitches are Xes, like so.”

Karkat watched, fascinated by how quickly her fingers moved in her demonstration. After a bit he managed to thread his needle without pricking his fingers, and then he began his attempt. He wasn’t nearly as fast--not by a long shot--but soon he found a rhythm as he created the outline of Scorpio. An amicable silence fell for a bit, but then he interrupted it. “So...what exactly is going on?”

The needle stilled for a moment as Kanaya found herself wordless. “...It’s...it’s complicated,” she said softly. She waited for a response, but Karkat simply waited. Feeling encouraged, she continued, “but also painful. See...Vriska asked me to make her a costume for when we entered the Medium. I was thrilled, of course--not only could I make a new outfit but I could make her happy. And I’m her server player, so I decided to watch and see how it fit, and how she liked it.

“She loved it...but not for the reason I thought.”

Karkat tilted his head, indicating he was still listening even with his eyes focused on not messing up the cerulean outline. “Does this have to do with Tavros?”

She laughed, and it startled him with how bitter it came out. “Before I can continue, I need to explain something. She’s obsessed with the journal of her ancestor, Mindfang. Her ancestor was a pirate and she was apparently destined to become Tavros’ ancestor’s matesprit or kismesis.”

He hissed, and she quickly looked over in surprise. It wasn’t because he had pricked his finger though, but rather a reaction. “That sounds fucking fantastic.”

“Tell me about it. She wanted the Troll Tinkerbell costume to try and attract Tavros to be one of those, when he was dressed as Pupa Pan. And…” Her hands stilled and she bit her lip. “...She kissed him. But he didn’t return those feelings, it was clear to see. The only way he could would be if she manipulated him, and...she didn’t have the heart for it.” A harsh laugh managed to break free. “Of course, that would be why she asked me to make it for her. I should have known better.”

Karkat looked up at her, having finally managed to get the outline to look halfway decent. “...You’re flushed for her, aren’t you?”

She nodded, rubbing at her face. “It’s so...so _ridiculous_ though! She’ll never love me that way--all I am is a conniving nosey fussy girl who wants to stop her from having her fun, even if that means keeping her away from danger. I just know it wouldn’t work, no matter how much I wish it did!”

The tapestry was abandoned for the moment as Karkat pulled Kanaya tight to him, and she surprised herself with bursting into tears. He simply held her close while the black sweater hid any evidence. “It’s alright...I got you,” he whispered, nuzzling her. Inside his heart though he felt a rush of anger toward Vriska. How dare she hurt his best friend?! Kanaya was one of the kindest, sweetest, and most caring trolls, and she just treated her so poorly! No, it was official, he was going to be her moirail from now on.

When the tears eventually stopped Kanaya pulled away enough to wipe at her eyes with a sniffle. “I-I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to break down.”

“Shoooosh,” he murmured, giving her a pap on the cheek and a smile. So much for not doing that. “It’s okay. Whenever you need me, I’m here for you. Got that, Miss Maryam?”

She couldn’t help but giggle a bit. “Yes, Mr. Vantas...thank you. But what should I do now?”

He gave her another little squeeze. “I think the best thing for you is to just break off the moirallegiance. It’s not healthy for either of you two, especially if she doesn’t know the full extent of your feelings. Er...will you ever tell her?”

She immediately shook her head, scrubbing at her eyes again. “Oh I could never! I once mentioned it--as a joke, mind you, which of our friends we’d maybe be matesprits with--and she said I wasn’t her type. I hoped maybe I could...somehow change her mind but…”

“It backfired.”

“Worse than that. There’s no chance of it ever happening…”

“Well, fuck her then! I mean, we’ll figure out the right matesprit for you!” Karkat promised with a grin. “It’ll take some time, but we’ll do it! Right now though you should focus on yourself more than your quadrants. You need to take care of yourself and not putting others in front of you, got that Kanaya?”

She smiled a bit. “Is that an order?”

“You bet your ass it is. Come on, let’s see if I can manage to embroider a full symbol before I die of old age.”

Quiet laughter slipped out, and she nodded as Karkat moved away from her. “I’m sure you’ll finish it before you die. Why, you’re doing fairly well for the first time doing it.”

“Eh. Never was much of an artsy craftsy sort of guy. Usually would try my hand at coding to relax, but I tend to fuck it up and then I get even more pissed off,” Karkat grumbled, squinting at the thread and cloth. “I really hate to admit it, but I think Sollux was right about me just never coding. I made my husktop explode before we even started playing!”

Kanaya’s eyebrows went up as she neatly finished off one horn of the Aries symbol. “Really? That does seem to take some interesting skills in order to accomplish that.”

He scoffed a bit. “Nah, I know I was being a complete shitsponge when I was talking to him. He told me not to run the code, should’ve listened to him. I mean, I didn’t know if he was actually pulling my leg or not, but guess this time he wasn’t. My fault, my fuck-up.”

“Well, I suppose it was your fault by that logic. But you really shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. When was the last time you slept?”

“Few days ago I guess. Insomnia fucks you up, and having a different rotation of celestial bodies and no terrifyingly hot and blinding sun is really screwing with my thinkpan.”

“Ahh, I see. Maybe you need a new hobby then to relax.”

“Oh? What do you suggest, remodeling my planet? Nothing except rocks and rivers really,” he replied with an eyeroll.

She simply smiled as she finished off the Aries symbol. “I was thinking more along the lines of simple arts and crafts. I could teach you how to crochet. It uses only one hooked needle and you can make scarves or afghans, even sweaters.”

He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in consideration, humming slightly as he painstakingly sewed the middle part of the Scorpio symbol. “Well...I guess. Can’t be worse than sitting around my hive doing jack.”

“No, that’s what I’ve been doing most of this time.”

Karkat looked over and saw that Kanaya already had half the outline done for the Taurus symbol. “Okay, that’s just freaky fast.”

“It’s simply from sweeps of practice, you can get the hang of it yourself,” she reassured him. The rest of the time working on the tapestry was spent in idle chitchat. The subject of their quadrants was notably avoided, a silent agreement between the two of them. While Kanaya finished her five off quickly, Karkat took much longer. The few times Kanaya attempted to help, the needle in her hand suddenly burned hot enough to make her drop it. Instead, she took the time to brush his hair out carefully. It was terribly knotted, and she noticed that as she ran the brush through, his shoulders began to relax. It almost reminded her of a meowbeast or a barkbeast being groomed properly.

Eventually, after a meal taken together that she had saved within her captchalogue, there were only two left. When they looked inside the box of threads however there were only three different reds and two greens, the rest of the spectrum having disappeared once they were finished with them. No gray whatsoever. “...Fuck.”

Kanaya glanced over at him, before pulling her own color spool out. Taking his hand in hers, she placed the spool in his palm and curled his fingers around it. “Did you know that green and red are complementary colors?” Without waiting for a response she pulled out a random spool--brilliant carmine--and held it up. “They are opposites on the color wheel, which means they fit perfectly together. I think that fits us, don’t you?” She smiled encouragingly. “Two halves of a diamond, perhaps?”

Karkat stared at her with his jaw slack. The silence lasted for several seconds before he took in a deep, shuddering breath. “D...do you mean that?”

“I have never cared about your blood color,” she swore, taking his hands in hers. “You’re my closest friend, and you have done far more as a moirail in this one feelings jam than Vriska has in our entire relationship. If anything, I would be honored for you to trust me with this secret. It shall never be betrayed.”

Before he knew it bright red tears were slipping down his cheeks and he dropped the embroidery ring to hug her tightly. His shoulders shook with silent sobs, and she held him tightly. She could feel her own tears starting to fall from his pain. There had been a quiet suspicion that he was hiding some outrageous color, but she had assumed he was a lime blood if anything. Feeling his fists grip her shirt with such desperation only made her pull him closer, petting his hair and whispering gentle reassurances that he was safe with her.

By the time he calmed down he felt like he had run out of tears, sniffling as he pulled away and rubbed at his face. “...Th...thanks, Kanaya,” he whispered. “You really are the greatest, you know that?”

She simply smiled and brushed a bit of hair out of his face. “What are friends--no, I’m sorry. What are moirails for?” Offering a curled fist, she smiled when it was hesitantly bunped back. Picking up the tapestry she discovered another chastity key. The card it unlocked contained nasal-absorbent disposable cloths, which she offered to Karkat. “Let’s get this finished, and then we can go get some sleep.”

The redblood blew his nose noisily. “Y-yeah…” With a tremble in his hand Karkat gave her the one she had picked on the first try. “So...that’s my secret. I’m a mutant.”

“Well, _I_ think it simply makes you wonderfully unique, Karkat,” Kanaya said with such confidence that he was startled. “Besides, there are only twelve of us left in the universe. If Miss Peixes has her way, and with so many trolls already supporting her ideas, the hemospectrum will be completely abolished and you will be able to show off your blood color with pride. As you should, after all.”

After a moment he smiled and nodded, even with the nervousness in his eyes. “I guess...a guy can hope anyway.”

“I’m sure it will happen. Now then, where were we?”

By the time they left the quest vault, the tapestry was hung back on the wall with all twelve symbols glowing in the night sky of the unknown planet, in the corner a small diamond stitched of jade and crimson as their signature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, I return with a better written version of my original brain child! What had once been affectionately been called Hetasessionstuck about four or five years ago was turned into Remedy, and with Homestuck over here I am with a newly rewritten, updated, and much more in-character version! I'm really very pleased with how this is going, and I shall be endeavoring to continue updating this! The next chapter might take a bit, if only due to how much formatting will be needed for the pesterlogs. Lordy, I forgot how annoying that part was! But it shall all be worth it, I'm sure ^^ enjoy!


	3. The Sweetest Heart

Her food-stores from before the game were finally getting low, and she had made the unfortunate discovery that alchemized food started to lose its taste incredibly quickly. She was almost out of fresh meat from Alternia, and none of the enemies that she hunted would maintain their form long enough for her to preserve any meat and separate it fully before it turned to Grist.

Nepeta Leijon let out a soft, unhappy mewl as her stomach growled. There was really nothing for it, she had to talk to one of the axolotls that prowled her planet. They would have some sort of food, right? Hopefully some sort of meat? She was omnivorous, sure, but she had long since realized she preferred fresh meat from the hunt.

There was one teapot hut (teahut?) that offered fishing supplies, which piqued her curiosity. She padded through the sugary fields to the hut, finding an axolotl with a grey beard! She didn’t know they could have beards! “Excuse me, what do you fish?” she asked.

The axolotl fixed its glasses and squinted at her for a moment. “Oh, well, you must be new!” That was stating the obvious. “We have teabag fish, miss, and we have all kinds of bait depending on what you’re looking for.”

“Ooh, sounds delicious!” She felt her stomach grumble at the thought of fresh fish cooked over an open fire. “What would you _rrr_ ecommend?” she asked, her rs rolling in a purr.

“Now that depends on what kind of flavor you’d like! Have you ever tried tea before?”

“Only when I was sick, and it was he _rrrr_ bal teas!”

“Ah, chameowmile! That’s more of a sick fish, like the tea. Are you looking for a good meaty fish for a hearty meal or something lighter?”

“Oh no, defurnitely meaty! I’m almost out of my food stores.”

The axolotl nodded and rummaged in his drawers, pulling out a box of bait. “Blacktea fish in that case would be best. They’re large and have a lot of meat on their bones. Their tail fins have large black spots on them to help differentiate them. Do you also need a fishing pole?”

“Yes please. How much will it be?”

“For you, ma’am, no charge,” the axolotl chirped with a smile as he also plucked a fishing pole off the walls. “Customers get their first fishing pole and box of bait for free. After this though there’ll be a price. Well, not so much a price as something for trading.”

She perked up and nodded eagerly. “I can do that! I have lots of things fu _rrr_ om my hunts! Maybe you can use them!” She accepted the fishing pole and captchalogued the bait easily. But the pole she held in her hands, looking at it in confusion. “Um...how do I fish with this?”

The axolotl looked startled. “You’ve never fished before?”

“Not with a pole! With my bare claws!” She grinned as she held up a hand like a paw. “My lusus Pounce taught me!”

“I...see.” Luckily he didn’t comment too much on the unorthodox manner and instead gave her a quick step by step process of how to hook the bait--some strange leaves--and then demonstrated how to cast. After a few practice attempts, she managed to get a decent handle on it, and she waved to the kindly axolotl in thanks before making her way to the darkest river, where the blacktea fish lived.

Once she hooked the leaves onto the hook she flung it back, then out over the river where it went _plunk!_ into the depths. The little bobber bounced merrily along the ripples, and she settled for a bit of a wait. As she waited, she fell deep into thought.

So far the game had been going pretty smoothly. The enemies were tricky, sure, but she could take them! But what had been really bothering her was that she couldn’t get to her quests! Most of the doors were locked tightly, with symbols meshing with hers weirdly. She really wasn’t sure what it meant, but they were so frustrating! There was only so much experience she could gain from fighting the respawning enemies.

At least she was able to do one with Equius, which had been really nice. It only served to deepen their moirallegiance! She hadn’t even thought it was possible until that quest. But Equius still worried her. He was still so stuck on the ways of Alternia, even though it was gone and had been for a week by then. Why then was he so fixated on it? And most of all the hemospectrum? There had to be some reason for it!

Her thoughts wandered from the hemospectrum to the twelve remaining trolls. Her olivine blood had never really been a point of pride for her, not like a few of the others. Her pride was in her skills as a fierce huntress, easily prowling the underbrush for dangerous prey to sate her hunger. It also was in her shipping. Now, in the game, rather than being idly interpreting ships and coming up with all possibilities just in case, she caught herself examining interactions on memos or in person in an almost calculating manner.

She still disagreed with Equius and Aradia as a couple, considering that it wasn’t really healthy the way it was. Not to mention the chip he put in the soulbot! That still upset her, because Equius didn’t need to force someone to love him! He just had to be himself! Granted, it might be a struggle because of how he hid himself, but she knew he could do it! Kanaya and Vriska were apparently pale, but something seemed off about it. And after being in a serendipitous moirallegiance for sweeps, she knew when a pale relationship was healthy or not. Karkat and Terezi had always been strange to her as well, she never was quite sure whether they were black or red. Terezi _did_ mention her crush on him though…

Her grip on the fishing pole handle tightened when she thought about them as a couple. Even worse, a flushed couple. Terezi was her friend, and she wanted her to be happy! But that feeling conflicted with how when she had talked with Karkat it had felt so _right_ , so utterly _perfect_ . It gave her the same happy feeling that her first few conversations with Equius had, the ones that had only strengthened and waxed pale as time went on. But with Karkat she knew, she just _knew_ that it was red serendipity. She didn’t know how she knew though. What she did know was that if Terezi and Karkat ended up in a red relationship, she’d step away.

That wouldn’t stop it from hurting however.

A tug on the fishing pole pulled her from those negative thoughts and her attention snapped back to the important matter at hand--eating! She remembered what that nice lizard had said, to slowly reel it in and tire it out to make it easier to pull it in. It was hard to stop herself from just spinning the handle to wind up the line, but she managed. After an agonizing five minutes she was thrilled to yank out of the water a large flat fish that flopped onto the sugared ground with a wet _flump_. To Nepeta’s amusement it looked like a giant tea bag!

With a quick slice to the spine the fish flopped once more before dying, and oh boy was her mouth watering. It was really thick, which meant plenty of fish meat, and organs too! She should probably get another first though, just to make sure she’d be okay for a few days.

When the hook was back in the water Nepeta found herself thinking about her friendship with Terezi. They roleplayed together a lot, which had definitely helped her with understanding how to socialize beyond just trips to the market on Alternia. But since getting into the game they had started to grow...distant. It bothered her, how she didn’t seem to want to talk to her as much anymore. Maybe...maybe that meant she found better friends? All Nepeta had that she could truly call a friend was Terezi, Equius, Karkat, and Kanaya. If Terezi left her, there’d only be three left, and even then she wasn’t very close to Karkat or Kanaya. It was really a depressing thought when it came down to it.

The dark thoughts clung to her thinkpan even as she hauled out another blacktea fish that flopped heavily onto the ground. The two would be enough for a bit, and it helped that Pouncesprite didn’t need to eat anymore! She captchalogued her prizes and trudged her way through the village back to her hive, still deep in rather depressing thought. After helping set up the items needed for Aradia and adding a staircase for people who needed it under each gate, they hadn’t exactly talked to each other. But Aradia did trust her enough to reveal she was a ghost to her first, before any of the others, so that meant she liked her, right?

She was still wondering about her friends and how to cultivate new ones as she mechanically cleaned the fish and set them on the slab of metal she used as a griddle for the meat. The organs she placed on a frying pan, and the sizzling set her mouth watering. The scent of sweet tea underneath the inherent fishy smell only made it even harder for her to keep from snatching it off the fire. But an expert huntress knew when the fish was done, and she waited just long enough for it to rest and cool down a bit before digging in.

It was the strangest explosion of flavor in her mouth, the fish was light and delicate and fell apart perfectly but the tea was almost overwhelming! It was so sweet that she recoiled just a bit before her tongue adjusted to the sharp tang. Her hunger was enough to push any worries out of her thinkpan.

That had probably been a very bad idea.

It wasn’t too long after she ate that she felt a familiar rush of adrenaline through her body. But that couldn’t be right, she hadn’t decided to go hunting for imps or anything of the sort. So why was she starting to feel like she could bounce out of her hive and keep bouncing for a night or ten? The strange twitches occurring throughout her body at random intervals certainly didn’t help.

She couldn’t take it anymore! She had to run! Not even registering the yowl of alarm from Pouncesprite she dashed out of her hive, pupils blown wide and almost fully obscuring the grey of youth. So much energy so much so much what to do she could just keep running yeah that was a good idea!! Can’t stop won’t stop or else her blood pusher would pounce out of her chest and keep going!

She was a dark green streak on the white backdrop of sugar cubes, the grains of sweetness scattering behind her as she ran on two legs, then on all four limbs. Her tail twisted to keep herself balanced and not actually falling on her face. Before she knew it she was scampering up the stairs along her hive, and through her first gate! She didn’t know where she was going anymore she just knew she had to run oh there was crunching rock and grass beneath her that’s right this led to Aradia’s planet she was her server player hope she’s okay wonder what being a robot is like up up up the stairs and now it’s Equius’ planet yay your moirail he’s the best and he makes sure your tail is perfect and never messed up and he’s just absolutely wonderful aND OH BOY WHAT FUN CAVES TO RUN THROUGH AND WATERFALLS TO SPLASH IN YES YES THIS IS SO MUCH FUN KEEP GOING KEEP GOING _DON’T STOP DON’T STOP DON’T STOP!!!_

Kanaya looked up from her discussion on her husktop with Karkat on how to crochet scarves at the sound of a high pitched screech. Suddenly Nepeta blurred past her, ran around her hive three times, and then up the stairs to the next gate. Kanaya stared in open mouthed confusion before returning to the conversation.

GA: Something Peculiar Has Happened To Nepeta  
CG: WHAT ISN’T PECULIAR ABOUT HER?  
CG: DON’T GET ME WRONG, SHE’S NOT A BAD PERSON, BUT SHE MAKES ME A LITTLE NERVOUS.  
GA: Karkat All Girls Make You Nervous  
GA: And I Know Its Not Her Usual Manner To Suddenly Run Oinkbeast Wild Three Times Around My Hive With A Screech Before Running To My First Gate  
CG: …  
CG: WHAT THE FUCK?!  
CG: YEAH GIVE ME A SECOND, I’M SICCING TEREZI ON HER ASS. THEY SPARRED BEFORE AND ARE FRIENDS SO SHE MAY BE ABLE TO HELP.  
GA: Oh Good  
GA: Im Worried As To What Caused Her To Suddenly Act So  
GA: Strange  
GA: Very Out Of Character For Her  
CG: TEREZI’S ON HER WAY. HOPEFULLY SHE’LL BE ABLE TO REIN HER IN.  
GA: I Certainly Hope So  


Kanaya sat at her hive steps and watched the water ripple slightly, the calm only broken one more time by Nepeta when she raced through with high pitched manic giggles ten minutes later. It made her wonder how much energy was inside that tiny compact body. As it was, the jadeblood felt utter relief flood her system when Terezi flew down from the gate to LOMAT. “Oh thank goodness you’re here, she hasn’t stopped once and has already been through here twice,” she told the other girl.

Terezi simply grinned as she readied what had once been a noose, but was now a lasso made for catching errant cat girls. “You’re probably overreacting! How bad can it be?”

Kanaya was unamused. “Wait about six minutes and she’ll be back.”

Terezi scoffed a bit but stood in front of the gate Nepeta had burst out of each time, jet pack at the ready and lasso hanging loosely in her hand while it spun. Before she knew it though Nepeta had whizzed past her and had hopped over what topiaries were left behind, and then out the other gate. It left Terezi speechless after spinning in surprise. “...What the hell?!”

“I told you so.” Kanaya received a withering look but ignored it. “You’re going to have to be faster than that.”

The wannabe legislacerator growled and crouched into a ready position, focusing all of her senses on Equius’ gate. “This time she isn’t getting away so easily.” When Nepeta next flew in Kanaya’s breath caught in her throat. The rocket claws were out. But Terezi was prepared and caught her neatly in the lasso and tugged. But rather than slowing her down, she only ended up dragged behind the olive blood. If not for the jetpack she never would have been able to keep pace at all. Kanaya bit down on one perfectly manicured nail nervously. She hoped they would both be alright.

Terezi cursed the rocket pack that had been used for both of their alchemizations. Both the dragonwing pack and the rocket claws had the same speed limit, so she’d be stuck trailing behind her and never catching up. She used her jetpack to haul herself along the line, one hand at a time. One brief glance and sniff beneath showed that they were in the Land of Sand and Zephyr briefly, then Tents and Mirth flashed by before melding into her own familiar synaptic sky. The deep rich scent of cherry then flooded her nose and she grinned. Karkat probably would flip out if he saw them.

(He totally did.)

By the time she had gotten close enough to Nepeta the two had just flown into the Land of Wrath and Angels. Before they could fly into the Land of Little Cubes and Tea Terezi had grabbed the cat troll with a harsh growl, knocking her off course. They almost flew straight into a wall but narrowly missed, instead landing in a pile of feathers that the angels had left behind.

Nepeta snarled and popped out of the pile, nearly slicing Terezi’s stomach open with her wild unaimed swat. Terezi barely managed to jump out of the way as she pulled her sword cane out. Now she saw, or smelled and heard, what Kanaya had meant. This was like the Nepeta she had first met, the feral child of the forests. This was going to be tough.

The sound of metal painfully sliding against metal and strange yowls from outside his hive caught Eridan’s attention, and dreading another encounter with an angel he tiptoed over to a window with his gun at the ready. He wasn’t entirely prepared to see Terezi and Nepeta fighting, especially not so fiercely! He could see that both had landed blows that had blood seeping into their clothes, and Nepeta had discarded her jacket in order to fight better.

Goddamn that was one fine ass on Leijon, he thought for a moment. When he caught Terezi’s butt he nodded in approval as well. Yes sir, a pair of fine delightful asses. But still, what the hell were they doing fighting on his planet? Weren’t they friends? Curiosity still high, he settled for a good fight with a Faygo. If they went so far as nearly killing themselves though he’d have to put a stop to it.

That thought made him pause. He wasn’t waxing ashen for them, definitely not! But from the way the fight was going, they just might need an auspistice…

This did however give him the opportunity to observe the way they both fought. Nepeta was the first to move from her crouch, pouncing forward with another yowl. Those claw gloves of hers looked dangerously sharp as she continuously slashed, Terezi deftly blocking each blow with her two swords that gleamed just as deadly. Nepeta seemed much less put together than normal though, with how she kept bouncing and attacking from varying angles.

Terezi, on the other hand, exuded logic and calculation as she spun easily to block each blow. Eridan wondered if the previous scratches had only been due to surprises from either side, because they seemed to be very well matched. His own style of hand to hand combat tended to be logical as well, though rather than being the sharp forward movements of many land dwellers his style was extremely fluid. It made him want to spar against these two, to see how they matched up. Especially Nepeta. He wanted to see just how long they would last against each other. There was a strange undercurrent pulsing through his blood pusher, and his claws dug into the window sill. Something about her just...ticked him off! There was no two ways about it, while he admired her in some ways there were other things that just irked him and he really wasn’t sure about it.

Terezi though, he now wished that he had gotten to know her a little better before the game. Watching her fight Nepeta with the strange grace that she must have honed over the sweeps after living in a tree and blind for so long, it was oddly intoxicating. Their fight was a dance, one that he found himself aching to join with one of them as his partner.

By the time an hour had passed he was even feeling a little tired, and he saw that the two of them were both losing energy. Their actions were growing clumsy, and he saw the moment Terezi slipped up in her riposte. Nepeta pounced on the opening, her claws retracting thankfully, and sent Terezi on her back and sliding a little in the dirt. The tiny troll pinned Terezi down and let out a victory screech and then he realized that she was...babbling about the hunt, and was half-coherent too. Something about the mighty huntress always winning her prey, and that was all he could make out. And then seemingly out of nowhere, Nepeta ran out of steam. The babbling slowed to a stop as she swayed, her eyes fluttering (and wow he could see from even this distance that her pupils were as big as her irises), and then she suddenly keeled over onto her side, her entire body seeming to go as limp as a noodle.

Well, now it was safe for him to intervene. Keeping his gun on hand for safety he jumped out the window and hurried over to where Terezi was still lying on her back. Her glasses had gone askew, revealing the dark red of her irises as she panted for breath. “Hey, Ter,” he said carefully. “Uh, you okay…?”

Terezi groaned and shook her head. “Exhausted,” she muttered, rubbing her eye. “Had to tire her out to get her to stop, but holy shit I had no _idea_ how much stamina she had.”

Looking at Nepeta, Eridan then realized that she was snoring, a purr underlying each exhale and on occasion a manic giggle. “What the fuck happened to her?”

“You’re not gonna believe me if I tell you.”

“Oh c’mon, try me.”

“Fine, she had sugar for the first time.”

“...What the fuck.”

“I’m serious here!”

“No, I trust ya, it’s just--what. She’s _never_ had sugar before?”

“Eridan, she was half-feral when I first met her. This was almost like before, except even worse.” She sat up with a wince, pressing a hand to a bleeding cut. Instantly Eridan was helping her up, letting her use him as a crutch. “What’re you doing?”

“Getting you inside so I can help you clean up and get bandaged,” he said. “Though I don’t think you’d want me carryin’ you bridal style.”

She snickered a bit and shook her head. “No, I can walk definitely! What about her though?” She jerked her head back toward where Nepeta was still snoring up a storm.

He rolled his eyes. “Once I get you inside, I’ll grab her an’ then we’ll tell Eq to come pick her up while I help you get bandaged and shit. K?”

Terezi looked at him calculatingly, before a faint smile flickered on her lips. “...Huh. You’re not that bad, Mister Ampora.”

He flashed her a light smile. “Neither are you, Miss Pyrope.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, this is starting to pick up some interesting speed! I really hope you're all liking it so far! Trust me, things are going to be getting veeeerrry interesting from here on out!


	4. Pitch Perfect?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to heat up now! Getting a little more into shenanigans, possibly relationships now, and in a few chapters the clusterfuck will really start to show itself! I'm so glad you're all enjoying this!

\- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC] -  
CG: TEREZI YOU THERE?  
CG: AS MUCH AS I HATE SAYING THIS, I’M GOING TO NEED YOUR HELP WITH ONE OF MY QUESTS.  
CG: THERE’S A COUPLE OF DOORS I’VE FOUND IN THE ROCKS THAT HAVE OUR SYMBOLS ON IT, WHICH OF COURSE MEANS I CAN’T DO SHIT UNLESS YOU’RE WITH ME.  
GC: WHY M1ST3R V4NT4S, 4R3 YOU R34LLY 4SK1NG FOR MY H3LP? WH4T 3V34 H4PP3N3D TO OUR F34RL3SS L34D3R B31NG 4BL3 TO DO TH1NGS ON H1S OWN?  
GC: 1 GU3SS 1 C4N H3LP THOUGH 1F YOU’R3 R34LLY TH4T D3SP3R4T3 >:]  
CG: THIS DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHETHER OR NOT I’M A FIT LEADER AND YOU DAMN WELL KNOW IT PYROPE.  
CG: I’VE DONE TWO QUESTS WITH KANAYA ALREADY AND IT ONLY FURTHER CONVINCED ME THAT THE ONLY WAY I’M GOING TO MAKE ANY PROGRESS ON THIS GOGFORSAKEN PLANET IS IF I ACCEPT HELP.  
CG: SO ARE YOU IN OR NO?  
GC: Y34H, Y34H, 1M 1N  
GC: WH3R3 4R3 YOU R1GHT NOW? MOP1NG 4ROUND SOM3WH3R3?  
CG: AS SHOCKING AS IT MUST BE FOR YOU, I’VE ACTUALLY BEEN A BIT BUSY WITH EXPLORING MY PLANET AND ASCENDING THE ECHELADDER LIKE WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING, THOUGH CURRENTLY I’M AT MY HIVE.  
CG: HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ANYTHING WORTHWHILE OR ARE YOU JUST SNIFFING AROUND GETTING OFF ON YOUR PLANET’S VIEWS?  
GC: BL4R NO!  
GC: JUST B3C4US3 1 H4V3 4N 4PPR3C14T1ON FOR 4 D3L1C1OUS 4CORN SQU4SH SKY DO3SNT M34N 1 G3T OFF ON 1T  
GC: UNL1K3 SOM3 P3OPL3 1 H4V3 H1GH3R ST4ND4RDS FOR TH4T  
GC: 1 DO H4V3 4 P3NCH4NT FOR TH3 MOST D3L3CT4BL3 SH4D3S OF R3D, THOUGH 1 SUPPOS3 1 COULD B3 P3RSU4D3D TO S4MPL3 OTH3R SC3NTS  
CG: JEGUS FUCK, WHAT IS *WITH* YOU AND THE COLOR RED? YOU’RE OBSESSED WITH IT!  
CG: IT’S JUST GROSS AND MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.  
GC: H3H3H3! R3D TH3 COLOR OF 4NGRY M3N!  
GC: 1T C3RT41NLY F1TS YOU M1ST3R SHOUTY P4NTS >:]  
CG: NO, WE ARE NOT GETTING INTO THIS AGAIN.  
CG: JUST BECAUSE I LOVE TROLL ENJOLRAS AND TROLL GRANTAIRE DOES NOT MEAN MY BLOOD IS THE COLOR OF ANGRY MEN.  
GC: YOU UND3R3ST1M4T3 M3, K4RK4T  
GC: 1 THOUGHT YOU KN3W M3 B3TT3R THAN THAT >:D  
CG: WHAT THE EVER LIVING FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

Crabdadsprite suddenly screeched in shock when one of the windows shattered open. The cause, a familiar thin-as-rails troll used him as a springboard to launch a cackling tackle pounce that would have made Nepeta proud. Karkat squawked in shock as he and Terezi rolled across the floor, and the target suddenly felt pain as the stab wound given by Jack opened up again.

“Hehehehe! I told you that you underestimated--hey!” Terezi was unceremoniously tossed off of Karkat and the nubby-horned troll made a mad dash to the ablution block. Before the door could be shut though she had caught up to him and used her cane to keep it open. “Come on, we both know my presence isn't that awful!”

“Look, it's not that! I just have to bandage my side again!”

“What, that stab wound again?” Using physics Terezi levered the door open and pushed Karkat inside, nose twitching. Black licorice hid the majority of the scent of blood, but she still made out the undercurrent of cherry, and she grinned like a shark. “Ooh, such a delightful smell, Karkat~ why on earth were you holding out on me?” Then she realized that he was instead of standing in front of her, hiding in the shower stall. “Oh come on, it's just me!”

“It's not just you!” Terezi tilted her head in confusion at the slight quiver in Karkat’s voice. He was...afraid? Of her? “It's this stupid awful fucking blood of mine! I've only told one person about it, and that was almost traumatizing enough!”

“Okay, seriously Karkat, what's the big deal?” She leaned on her cane but didn't force herself into the stall, allowing him that bit of privacy. “It's just me!”

She was startled by the harsh bark of laughter that he replied with. “ _Just_ you? _Just_ a blue blood who has every legal right to cull me on the spot?”

“Wait-- _that’s_ what you think of me?” Now she was just insulted. “How can you say that?! We both know I'm too teal to be in Vriska and Equius’s class!”

“Bull fucking shit, Pyrope! You were born a blue blood and you just happen to have a bit of green! You've been born with more privileges than I ever got to have!”

“You lived in suburbia with lawn rings and you had a lusus to raise you!” she snapped back, feeling the hackles rise. “I grew up in a tree with my lusus in an egg!”

“You've been free to bleed!” Terezi shut up in shock as Karkat continued. “You can go around declaring your blood as teal, you don't have to be scared of someone culling you--or worse! I couldn't bleed, I couldn't cry--I couldn't even _blush_ until we got into the game, and I still wear grey to hide it! If someone found out, do you know what could have happened?”

“You've said culling, what could be worse than that?”

“Slavery.” The pure bitter hate in his voice made Terezi stop and consider what Karkat was saying. “It was still a thing, we both know it. I could've easily been made a highblood’s pet. You've read about it in your law books, you know what would have happened to me in that case.”

Terezi took a shaky breath as she fully comprehended the realization. Shit, she was kind of awful for not figuring that out. “...Okay. You're right about that. Sorry for not understanding.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Why are you still afraid of me though? That's what I don't get! Alternia’s long gone, we’re the only ones left! Us and the other ten! And like you said, I love red! Why are you so damn scared of me?!”

Karkat suddenly slammed the shower door open, sweater off and pressed against his side to absorb the blood. “Because I can't figure you out! One second we flirt flushed as sin, and then next thing I know we’re sniping like we’re black! This is way more than the quadrant vacillation I've read about!”

“Oh, _I’m_ the one you can't figure out? You're the one who starts it half the time, Vantas! You pull me close, and then you push me away! I can't tell if you like me or hate me usually! And do you know how much that sucks?”

“Yes, because you do the same to me!”

“What?!”

“You play these mind games with me and I can't figure out if-if--if I'm good enough for you or not!” Finally the heart of the matter came out, even as Karkat winced with the throb of his wound. “I can't get into your mindset and I hate how you like to play games with my feelings!”

Terezi gaped at him for a moment before bristling angrily. “You act like I'm the only one to blame! You push me away so much I can't tell if you want me or not! It's like _you_ can't decide if _I'm_ good enough for you!”

Karkat growled angrily. “You started it!”

“Well I'm going to finish it now!” Before she could overthink the decision she stormed forward and yanked him down by the back of his head, kissing him harshly. The jolt that went through both of them held none of the sweet soft sparks of flushed emotions, but jagged pitch spikes. He dropped the sweater to pull her closer, biting at her lip hard enough to draw a bit of blood. She returned the flavor, a deep shudder and a pleased sound escaping as she finally tasted the delightful copper-cherry of his blood.

When they finally broke apart they stared at each other for several moments, panting for breath. Then Karkat predictably broke it. “Well fuck, this has gone completely pear-shaped.”

Terezi couldn't help but cackle, and she shook her head. “So, does this make us spades?”

“If not this is the unhealthiest kind of flush romance I've seen,” he joked as he wiped his mouth free of blood. The sudden burst of pain from his side made him hiss as he pulled away.

She jumped in surprise. “Oh shit, we forgot about that! You got a first aid kit or something?” He simply pulled one out of a previously opened crypt vault and handed it to her, not expecting her touch to be so gentle as she wrapped him up. “Can't have my new kismesis bleeding out on me, can I~?”

“That would just ruin it, I think,” he said in dry amusement. “You think you're actually up to doing the quest with me?”

“I think I should be asking that to you,” she snarked back. “But if you are then I am. Where is it?”

“It's not too far, near a consort village. Funny thing is, it's next to a door with Nepeta’s symbol.”

“Huh, weird!” She neatly taped the gauze wrapping in place and patted his shoulder. “All set. And as much as I like admiring your physique, you should put a shirt on.” She cackled as he jumped and scurried quickly out muttering about interfering perverted hags. Oh, this was going to be fun!

* * *

 

This wasn't as fun as she had hoped.

Not the new pitch relationship, trading barbs and insults back and forth with the crabby troll was plenty fun! It didn't seem quite as black as she had read in stories, but she wondered if it was because of, well, Karkat. He always did adhere strongly to the traditional views of the quadrants, but maybe this strange feeling was due to him being a mutant? It would also explain why the quadrants had blurred at times between them!

It reminded Terezi of the relationship between the Signless and his Disciple, when she thought about it. Nepeta had shown her the journal and read it to her--not letting her lick it for fear of the pages falling apart. The way the Disciple spoke about it, their love had gone far beyond the quadrants. If Karkat was going to be like the Signless, then his matesprit was going to be a lucky troll!

“Terezi, pay attention before they all fall again! I'm not going to be doing this damn quest from the beginning for the third time!”

“I got it!” She pulled at the levers operating the giant set of scales in front of them to keep all the boxes from falling off. Each one had an aspect symbol, and while she was keeping the scales balanced Karkat was trying to place the boxes where they belonged so the scales would be balanced without their help. “Have you figured anything out yet?”

“No, but there are definitely some problems with this! It can't just be the aspects!”

“What do you mean?”

Karkat grabbed one of the supporting ropes as he looked down at her. “The boxes represent us, they have the aspect symbols over blood colors. So if we just go by aspects we could balance it out as their opposites. Light and Void, Space and Time, Doom and Life, that kind of thing.”

“Makes sense. But you're saying it's not?”

“I already tried it that way, and one scale just got ridiculously heavy. So it can be a fuckton of other things. I don't know how the classes work exactly so no shitty idea of how to work those into this balancing act of torture.”

She snickered. “What's the matter, Karkat? Can't keep your footing?”

He scowled down at her. “I wouldn't have a problem if you kept these things even! Come on, you're a Seer of Mind, use the mindy powers to do something useful!”

She jerked at the controls, knocking him off his feet with a yelp. “Oops, sorry~”

“Oh fuck you, you’re not sorry at all!”

“Let’s save that for later~”

Karkat grumbled as he felt his cheeks burn beneath the grey foundation, deciding to just start from the beginning again and toss the boxes onto the platform on the support pole that held the two balancing plates. Soon enough both plates were empty and he randomly picked up one. It was bright teal with the green marking of Mind on each side. “Got any ideas?”

Terezi hummed as she relaxed her hold on the controls. With nothing on them, she didn’t have to keep them balanced. “So it’s not the aspects...what if it’s our connections?”

“Connections?”

“Yeah! Blood has to do with bonds--at least that’s what I figure from the information I’ve licked off consort writings. It didn’t taste very good but it was helpful! So it may have to do with who’s connected to whom.”

Karkat made some intrigued clicking noises in the back of his throat as he contemplated the idea. “Not bad, guess you’re good for more than just terrifying people and ripping their thinkpans open with your shrieking cackles.”

“I know, who’d have thought it? Just as sharp as my horns, mister nubs!”

“My horns are perfectly fine, thank you very much!” Karkat growled and chucked the box in his hands onto one plate, leaving her to scramble to keep the plate from hitting the button underneath. No telling whether the button would lead to an explosion or a simple reset. In a spur of the moment decision he grabbed his own--scowling at the red with burgundy symbol slashing through it--and tossed it onto the other plate. “So now how’s it doing?”

Terezi adjusted the controls and then felt the shift. Slowly she pulled her hands away, noticing that they stayed still. “It worked! What did you do?”

“Your box is on one plate and mine’s on the other. Can you _see_ where this is going?”

“No, because I’m blind you idiot.” She rolled her eyes behind her glasses. “So what’s connecting us?”

“Fuck if I know. Sloppy makeouts? Not giving a shit about fashion? Kismesistude?”

“Ignoring most of what you said...what if that’s it! We have to have everyone paired off as kismeses! I mean, we’re working together and we’re pitch--well I know am anyway, not sure about you but you’re just weird--”

“Oh shut up, I’m pitch and you know it.”

“--so we might have to try and figure out together who’s the best kismesis for each other!” Terezi cackled a bit and looked at where she scented Karkat. “Let’s try another! Try...ooh try Vriska! Toss her box on a side!”

Karkat shrugged and did as was suggested, then examined the other nine left. “Well, she’s pissed off almost everyone. Kanaya isn’t pitch for her, though it’s a bitch and a half to keep that from happening. You know her better, you got any ideas?”

Terezi clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth thoughtfully. “She and Eridan used to have a pitch relationship but they broke up. Equius doesn’t like her, but they’re not pitch I think. Just disdainful of each other. Nepeta’s okay with her I guess? Don’t really talk much.”

Karkat piled those three to the side, adding Kanaya’s to it. “She barely knows Peixes right? Fuck, I don’t think most people have even talked to her except Eridan. And Kanaya for some reason? How did that even happen?”

“I have no idea! But they’d be in a hilarious kismesistude,” she commented with a cackle. “All snarky broads arguing about fashion. Landdweller fashion sense versus seadweller fashion sense!”

“Shit, we’ll save that for next just to see if that ridiculous idea even works, though it kind of sounds like a load of offalbeast droppings.” The ones left were incidentally the ones Vriska had hurt the most, except for one. “We got Aradia, Sollux, and Tavros left now. Though I’m gonna guess Gamzee isn’t even counted for this pairing?” he asked, holding up the purple box. It gave him the strangest sense of foreboding when he saw the symbol of Rage.

She snickered, a breathy sound with a faint grating undertone. “Yeah, no, definitely not. Does he even get mad enough to be black for anyone?”

“Not on the sopor, that’s for sure.” He shuddered at the thought of what might happen if Gamzee ever was weaned off the sopor slime pies. Indigos had a terrifying reputation back on Alternia after all, who knew what could happen? They were notoriously capricious and could switch from laughing in amusement at a joke to laughing in glee at bloodshed.

He was honestly a little terrified of Gamzee.

Terezi, not noticing his brief distress, was considering the other three options. “I really doubt Tavros, they seem to still be on weird kinda-okay terms? I don’t know how he can still stand her, but that’s Tavros for you, too nice for his own damn good.”

“Yeah, true. So it’s between Aradia and Sollux then. Which do you think? You know more about the situation than I do.”

“She killed Aradia, yeah, but she used Sollux to do so. I…” Terezi paused in surprise. “I don’t know how she feels about it actually!”

“I think she’d be okay with it,” Karkat snarked with an eyeroll.

“Hehehe! True! You know what, try tossing Sollux on! Last I knew Aradia did get back at her and almost killed her, to get her to go god tier.” Terezi eased up on the controls to allow the scales to shift, enabling them both to see if the mustard-colored box would even it off.

Karkat spun the box in his hands before giving it a gentle toss, the box landing neatly next to Terezi’s. The scales wobbled, and then evened off. He let out a low whistle. “Looks like that’s another kismesistude. What one did we want to try next?”

“Kanaya and Feferi! It’s far-fetched but who knows! It might work!”

The Cancer troll shrugged and followed through, the jade box bouncing and stilling next to his while Feferi’s tumbled a couple of times on the scale. To both of their surprise, the scales once again balanced. “...Well, shit.”

“Damn! That’s a different one! But mint and pomegranate are a pretty yummy smell. Who’s left now?”

“Aradia, Tavros, Nepeta, Equius, Eridan, and Gamzee.”

“Nepeta and Equius are definitely _not_ pitch. They’re so painfully pale it’s adorable!”

“I know! Like, damn if that’s not a fine example of a moirallegiance I’ll eat my pants. Even if Equius is a creepy sweaty fucker who has a fetish for hoofbeasts.”

Terezi cackled at Karkat’s description. “Yeah, but Nepeta’s pretty cool! Though…” She pursed her lips in a grimace. “Nah, never mind.”

“What?” Karkat looked down at her, hands spinning the Heart-emblazoned box. “Does it have to do with her weird freak out a few days ago?”

“Yeah, something like that...no, I shouldn’t even be talking to you about this, you’re not my moirail!”

Karkat wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Dear fucking lord, no. Absolutely not. What, two pitch partners can’t just gripe about other people they hate or have problems with?”

“Well…” Terezi squirmed a bit as an unsettling feeling took root in her gut. “It just doesn’t...feel right! It’s almost like having a feelings jam, and like hell am I doing that with you!”

“Oh my god, _no_ it’s not a feelings jam! Besides, as leader I need to know if there’s problems between people. And if there’s a duel going on between you and Nepeta I should know that.”

“Blar, it’s not a duel! We just sparred, but it got...intense.”

“Oh?”

“Nepeta’s a huntress, you know. So she’s never really had any food not grown or hunted in the wild.”

“Yeah, so?”

“That includes sugar.”

“...Oh-- _ohhhh._ ”

“Yep, you finally got it.” Terezi growled as she let go of the controls for now, flexing her fingers to keep them from cramping. “That sugar high made her stamina go even higher, and she managed to beat me! And she was spouting all this crap about what a mighty huntress she was which was so ridiculous! We’ve sparred plenty of times before but this felt--I don’t even know how to describe it but it still pisses me off! Like she wasn’t taking me seriously!”

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “Am I gonna start feeling jealous of Nepeta?” he deadpanned. When Terezi glared in his direction he couldn’t help but snicker. “It almost sounds like you’re black for her, but we’ve already determined you can’t keep away from this juicy black stud,” he ignored the sudden snorts and chokes of laughter, “so it isn’t that. Maybe you two are ashen?”

“Hehehehe, black Vantass.”

“Oh my _god_ shut your mouth.”

She snickered a bit more before calming. “I don’t even know why I’d feel that way toward her! We’ve been friends for a few sweeps, almost best friends even! So why would I even need an auspistice with her?”

Karkat shrugged. “Fuck if I know. But it may help to have someone fairly impartial to talk to with Nepeta, try and figure your shit out.” He tossed Nepeta’s box onto the scale, not bothering to watch it bounce and bump his own. “Any ideas for her though?”

“Well, she _has_ been complaining a lot about Eridan,” Terezi mentioned. “Try that one, since that’s like the only one she actually seems to dislike.” She was very pleased when the scales once again evened out. “Nice! Guess that doesn’t surprise me too much though, he can be such a creep!”

“Did he hit on you too?”

“Once or twice during FLARPing, but it was more to piss off Vriska than anything else. So I never took him seriously. Maybe if he shaped up and tried to be less creepy mightier than thou, I’d be interested. But if not, nah. He was nice when he helped patch me up after the whole sugar-high fiasco though.”

“Yeah, he’s got good qualities but the bad ones tend to overshadow them. We got Tavros, Equius, Gamzee, and Aradia. I heard that Equius and Aradia got some weird thing going on, so I’m gonna try that next. You ready?”

“Throw them!” Much to her dismay one of the scales dipped down, almost hitting the button underneath before she rescued it. “Wrong! Try again!”

“What the fuck, that actually could have worked!” Karkat grabbed Aradia’s box off quickly as he could before going back to the platform. “So what, Tavros and Equius then?”

“It’s gotta be, Aradia and Tavros used to be friends! Team Charge versus Team Scourge, those two gave us a run for our money sometimes!”

“Though I don’t know how Gamzee and Aradia would go black for each other, okay.” He shrugged and tossed out Tavros’ box. To their shock it overbalanced, and he hastened to switch it with Gamzee’s, the scales balancing again once he was off. “What the fuck?”

“I don’t get it! How would Aradia and Tavros end up black for each other?”

“This doesn’t make sense,” he agreed, tossing the last two boxes so that the scales balanced. A green light lit up at the top of the scales indicating their success, and he quickly climbed down. “There’s going to be something that makes their relationship turn sour as lemons.”

“Lemons are so good though!”

“Yeah, with some sugar and in lemonade!”

“Blar, you have such vanilla tastes! Haven’t you read any _interesting_ romance novels?” She grinned sharply at him with equally sharp eyebrow waggles.

Karkat felt his cheeks glow and he growled. “That doesn’t mean anything!”

“Oh please, you’re just scared that you wouldn’t be able to take me down,” she taunted. Her stance shifted into a fighter’s, her cane twirling in hand. “Who’d have thought our fearless leader was such a cluckbeast?”

He smirked and his sickles fell into his hands, knowing exactly what she had in mind. “You wanna put this to the test and see for yourself, or are you too afraid of seeing how strong I _really_ am?”

“Hehehehe! We’ll just see about that!”

* * *

 

“Jegus FUCK, how many hickeys did you leave?”

“Like you’re one to talk, you gave as good as you got. Ow!”

“What?”

“When did you bite my rumblesphere?!”

“Probably when you were digging your nails into my bone bulge, your nails hurt!”

“That’s the point of a kismesistude, idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah, fuck you too.”

“Later, we both need showers. I’ll see you later then?”

“No you won’t.”

“Why not--oh fuck you!”

“I can hear you grinning, I win!”

“Oh no, you don’t!”

By the time Karkat stumbled into his hive Crabdadsprite screeched in horror and immediately fussed over him, which the troll tried to wave off as he dragged his feet into his ablution block. Who knew that blackrom could be so exhausting?

As he let the water run over him, a hiss escaping as it reawakened the injured nerve endings around each wound, he mused to himself about his relationship with Terezi. They had been vacillating for about a sweep and a half by now with all of their flirting. And this did feel right, now that it was settled. He knew that he was thrilled with Kanaya, so why did he still feel that need to have someone in multiple quadrants? Maybe it was just the lack of having them filled? He sure as fuck didn’t want to be that one sad character in rom-coms that are just desperate fucks. Would it go away when he also found a matesprit now?

Eh. He was too tired to focus on that locomotive of thought. He needed to eat after his shower, and then take a good long nap.


	5. Furiends and Furustrations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, sorry it took me so long to get this next chapter posted! Work was kicking my ass, and so was formatting these pesterlogs. Oh god, the number of pesterlogs and memos I have in mind are gonna be the death of me. But please bear with me and thank you all for sticking with this so far! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed reading it!

-CURRENT arsenicCatnip [CAC] RIGHT NOW posted a new realtime memo “33:< < urrgggghhh!” on “:33 < the shippurr’s cove!” - 

CAC: >:cc < this is impawsible!!!  
CAC: >:cc < why are all my quests DUMB???  
CAC: :cc < i purractically can’t do anything!!  
\- FUTURE carcinoGeneticist [FCG] 20 MINUTES FROM NOW responded to the memo -  
FCG: YOU TOO?  
FCG: ALL OF MY IDIOTIC QUESTS ARE BLOCKED IN REALLY INANE AND RIDICULOUS WAYS.  
FCG: THE ONLY QUESTS I’VE BEEN ABLE TO DO WERE WHAT, THREE? FOUR?  
-FUTURE grimAuxiliatrix [FGA] 43 MINUTES FROM NOW responded to the memo -  
FGA: You And I Were Able To Complete Two Of Them Together  
FGA: I Must Admit Making A Tapestry Together Was A Wonderful One  
FGA: At Least Compared To My Quests FGA: Or I Should Say The Lack Thereof  
FCG: YEAH, THAT ONE WAS RELAXING IN THE WEIRDEST WAY.  
FCG: I DON’T KNOW WHY WE HAD TO MAKE A TAPESTRY OF EVERYONE THOUGH, DID THEY THINK WE WERE GOING TO FORGET THE SIGNS OF EVERYONE OR SOME SHIT LIKE THAT?  
FGA: I Believe Its More To Do With The Fact That We All Seem To Be Connected  
FGA: Even Though Were Supposedly On Different Teams It Doesnt Quite Seem That Way  
FGA: After All Karkat And Sollux Are On Different Teams Yet Karkat Helped To Get Him In The Game  
FGA: Perhaps Thats Why The Tapestry Was Designed As Such  
FGA: To Show That Were All Part Of A Bigger Whole  
FCG: MAKES AS MUCH SENSE AS ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS FUCKING GAME.  
\- PAST caligulasAquarium [PCA] 25 MINUTES AGO responded to the memo -  
PCA: at least your fuckin consorts arent tryin to kill all you  
PCA: wwhy did i end up wwith the damn murderous psychopathic consorts??  
CAC: >:// < maybe beclaws mew’re a murderous psychopathic weirdo??  
PCA: hey, vvris is just as bad as me IF NOT WWORSE  
FCG: HOW ABOUT YOU BOTH ARE MURDEROUS PSYCHOPATHIC WEIRDOS?  
FCG: EXCEPT HER CAREER STARTED TO FEED HER LUSUS I THINK.  
FCG: THAT’S WHAT KANAYA TOLD ME ANYWAY.  
FCG: YOU JUST HAVE THIS GENOCIDAL COMPLEX SHIT GOING ON EVEN THOUGH YOU KEEP COMING TO ME WHINING ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS.  
FCG: SO WHAT, THERE ARE SPECIFIC EXCEPTIONS TO YOUR LANDDWELLER HATRED OR SOMETHING?  
CAC: >:// < purrsonally i can confurm that ampurra is just an asshole  
\- CURRENT centaursTesticle [CCT] JUST NOW responded to the memo -  
CAC: >xOO < NO  
\- CAC banned CCT from responding to the memo -  
CAC: >:AA < ampurra is an asshole and i’m NOT going to be repurrimanded fur my language when it’s TRUE  
FCG: I’M TRYING TO TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY RIGHT NOW, I REALLY AM.  
FCG: BUT THE CAT PUNS ARE MAKING IT HARD TO DO SO.  
FGA: Its Actually A Little Adorable  
FGA: Like Karkat Can Be  
FCG: KANAYA SHUSH.  
FGA: Alright But I Stand By My Statement  
-FUTURE arachnidsGrip [FAG] 16 MINUTES FROM NOW responded to the memo-  
FAG: Hahahaha woooooooow Nepeta, really r8king Ampora over the coals there!  
FAG: I’m actually impressed, never thought you had the shame glo8es to do so.  
CAC: >:// < whatefur mew’re implying, vwhiskers, don’t  
CAC: >:// < i want exactly ZERO to do with ampurra  
CAC: >:CC < efur!!  
CAC: >:AA < again!!  
FCG: WHAT, DID HE HIT ON YOU OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?  
PCA: oh cmon nep this is totally unfair  
PCA: you wwerent evven wwillin to entertain the chance  
FCG: OH MY GOD ERIDAN ARE YOU *SERIOUS*?  
FCG: I MEAN FOR ONE THING, NEPETA HAS STANDARDS.  
FAG: Wow, everyone’s gunning for your 8lack quadrant, look at you g8.  
FCG: OH JEGUS NO WE’RE NOT GOING THERE.  
FCG: BUT IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE FACT THAT YOU TWO BEING FLUSHED IS COMPLETELY AGAINST ONE OF MY QUESTS I MIGHT ACTUALLY ENTERTAIN THE THOUGHT.  
PCA: wwhat do you mean if it wasn’t completely against one of your quests?  
CAC: >:oo < what do mew mean you might actually entertain the thought???  
CAC: >:OO < nefur in a meowlion sw33ps!!  
FCG: REALLY RIDICULOUS LONG FUCKING STORY.  
FCG: THE TL;DR VERSION IS THAT YOU TWO HAVING A FLUSHED BOND WOULD NOT BE GOOD.  
FCG: BUT REGARDLESS, THERE’S A REALLY BIG GLARING PROBLEM THAT’S BRIGHTER THAN  
FCG: SOMEONE GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE.  
\- CURRENT gallowsCalibrator [CGC] responded to the memo -  
CGC: TH3 SUN WORKS!  
CAC: :33 < skaia too!  
CAC: :33 < or kanaya’s planet.  
FGA: Rainbow Drinkers As Well  
FCG: ALRIGHT THANK YOU.  
FCG: WOW THAT’S WEIRD IT’S LIKE ALL THE GREEN-TINTED TROLLS CHIMED IN.  
FCG: BUT MAYBE IF YOU WERE ACTUALLY *OVER* YOUR FLUSH CRUSH IT WOULDN’T BE SUCH A BAD IDEA.  
FCG: REBOUND MATESPRITSHIPS NEVER END WELL, DIDN’T YOU WATCH ANY GOOD ROMCOMS?  
CAC: :// < pawnestly if you were even a little genuine about it and went about it diffurrently i MIGHT have b33n interested  
CAC: >:// < but bringing me into the game and then demanding my hand in matespritship for ‘saving my life’ was entirely uncalled fur  
CAC: >:// < and more than a little cr33py.  
FAG: Woooooooow Eridan, that’s low even for you.  
FAG: At least MY meth8ds are better!  
FCG: VRISKA, TWO WORDS.  
FCG: PUPA PAN.  
FAG: Oh fuck y8u!  
FGA: Karkat I Thought I Asked You Never To Mention That Incident Again  
FCG: SHIT, THAT’S RIGHT.  
FCG: SORRY, KANAYA. NEVER BRINGING IT UP AGAIN.  
FGA: Thank You  
FGA: Wasnt This Memo Originally About Nepetas Quests Anyway  
FGA: And How  
FGA: Quote Impawsible Unquote  
FGA: They Are  
CAC: :oo < yeah it was!!  
CAC: :// < though, hang on  
\- CAC unbanned CCT from responding to the memo -  
CAC: :SS < sorry equius!!  
CAC: :ss < that was kind of uncalled fur and i purrobably  
CAC: :cc < no, defurnitely shouldnt have done it  
CAC: :cc < furgive me?  
CCT: D -- > While I agree that it was rather uncalled for  
CCT: D -- > Is there tr001y any need for that question  
CCT: D -- > Of horse I forgive you  
CCT: D -- > I mean of course  
CAC: :DD < <>  
CCT: D -- > <>  
CCT: D -- > Now, what is all this about your quests being impossible  
CCT: D -- > Surely they are nothing to a troll who is as STRONG as you are  
CAC: >:cc < they wouldnt be a purroblem if i could GET to them  
CAC: >:// < they’re all blocked by doors that have other aspect marks than just mine, and i can’t open them!  
CAC: >:// < ive found maybe one so fur that just has my heart symbol on it but my consorts say i should defurnitely stay away furrom it!  
CAC: :// < appurrently it most likely leads down to my denizen, psyche!  
CAC: :// < ofur than that one, though, a purrsory glance of all the available quests on my planet has like…  
CAC: >:// < MAYBE thr33 other doors that aren’t a combination lock??? they have my heart symbol but they’re marked with like, a level requirement!!  
CAC: >:OO < how am i suppawsed to gain levels if i cant do any of the other QUESTS????  
FCG: HEY, DO ANY OF THEM HAVE LIKE YOUR SYMBOL AND EQUIUS’S?  
FCG: OR MAYBE YOURS AND KANAYA’S?  
CAC: :cc < theres doors for my symbol and effurryone else  
CAC: >:// < i even saw a few with my heart symbol and ampurras dumb hope symbol  
FAG: Well!!!!!!!! M8ybe, if you get on my good side, L8jon, I miiiiiiiight be willing to come help you with a few Lighty quests! >::::)  
CAC: :// < vwhiskers nothing i do is going to affect your decision to help me or not and we both know it  
CGC: SHHH JUST L3T H3R PR3T3ND  
CGC: SH3 M4Y 4CTU4LLY DO SOM3TH1NG 1MPORT4NT FOR OTH3RS FOR ONC3 1NST34D OF FOCUS1NG ON H3RS3LF >:]  
FAG: Hey I can 8e T8TALLY CONSIDER8 if I w8nt!!!!!!!!  
FGA: Really Vriska  
FGA: Really  
FGA: Then Why Havent You Responded To Me Lately  
FGA: If Not At All Since The Game Started  
FAG: I’ve 8een 8usy!  
FAG: There’s 8een a lot of questing to do over here on LOMAT!  
FGA: I Had To Find Out From Tavros That You Died Vriska  
FGA: He Had To Tell Me That You Died And Went God Tier  
FGA: You Didnt Tell Me And Even Though I Was Worried Sick You Never Said Anything More Than You Were Fine And Didnt Need My Help  
FGA: Is That True Vriska  
FGA: Do You Really Not Need My Help  
CAC: :SS < um...maybe you two should take this to a purrivate confursation?  
CAC: :SS < this looks kinda impurrtant  
CAC: :33 < equius back me up here  
CAC: :33 < doesnt this look like they should R33LLY take the time to settle down in a pile???  
CCT: D -- > Well  
CCT: D -- > This 100ks to be something more serious than that which a simple feelings jam can  
CCT: D -- > Alleviate  
CCT: D -- > But I do feel that it should be taken somewhere less  
CCT: D -- > Public I suppose  
FAG: Uuuuuuu8h wh8ever!!!!!!!!  
FAG: I’m out, I have 8etter things to do, like own the F8CK out of my planet!!!!!!!!  
\- FAG ceased responding to the memo -  
FGA: Urrgh  
FGA: My Apologies  
FGA: It Just Seems That Memos Are The Only Time I Can Speak With Her Anymore  
CAC: :33 < well, kanaya, if you efur n33d to talk to someone impurrtial…  
CAC: :33 < i mean, vwhiskers is your meowrail, but sometimes i think we do n33d someone for matters that we cant even bring up with our meowrail!  
CGC: L1K3 TH4T T1M3 YOU C4M3 TO M3 4BOUT YOUR V3RY SUP3R S3CR3T BUS1N3SS? >:?  
CCT: D -- > What business  
CCT: D -- > It’s nothing  
CCT: D -- > 100d is it  
CAC: :33 < purrezi theres a reason i didnt want equius to know about that!!  
CGC: OH PL34S3 1 THOUGHT 1T W4S 4DOR4BL3  
CCT: D -- > Well  
CCT: D -- > As long as the business is nothing that c001d be considered negative, I am okay with this being a secret  
CCT: D -- > Like you said, sometimes you need privacy which is understandable  
CCT: D -- > Besides  
CCT: D -- > When is Nepeta not adorable  
CCT: D -- > <>  
CAC: :33 < <>!!!  
CAC: :33 < oh equius~~~ youre giving me the pale vapors something fierce!!  
CAC: :33 < my point stands though!! sometimes theres things that even a meowrail can be too close to be comfurtable sharing  
CAC: :// < and i like to think im purretty good at being a meowrail!!  
CAC: :33 < though equius wins the compurrtition for best meowrail no contest <>>>>!!!  
CCT: D -- > Now Nepeta, you’re not giving yourself enough credit  
CCT: D -- > If anyone is the best moirail it is you  
FCG: I’M GOING TO BE SICK FROM HOW ADORABLE THIS SUDDENLY TURNED.  
FCG: BUT I’VE ACTUALLY BEEN KIND OF HELPING KANAYA OUT LIKE THAT ALREADY.  
FCG: SHE’S TEACHING ME HOW TO CROCHET WHILE WE TALK, IT’S VERY RELAXING.  
FCG: HELL I ALREADY HAVE LIKE THREE SCARVES DONE, I MAY JUST GIVE THEM TO ERIDAN SINCE HE’S GOT A FETISH FOR THEM.  
FCA: hey  
FCA: havvin an appreciation for finer lookin fashion is not havvin a fetish  
FCG: YOU NEVER WEAR ANYTHING ELSE AROUND YOUR NECK!  
CGC: 1 COULD R3CT1FY TH4T. >:]  
FCG: THERE IT IS.  
FCG: NOW THAT’S A FETISH IF I EVER SAW ONE.  
CGC: OH, 1F W3RE T4LK1NG 4BOUT F3T1SH3S NOW 1M SUR3 TH3 CL4SS WOULD LOV3 TO KNOW YOURS  
CGC: M1ST3R 69  
FCG: THAT IS NOT A FETISH, THAT IS A PREFERRED POSITION FOR ONE THING!  
FCG: TWO, FUCK YOU EVEN THOUGH I WALKED INTO THAT ONE.  
CGC: B33N TH3R3, DON3 TH4T  
CAC: :oo < what  
FGA: What  
CCT: D -- > What  
FCA: oh an IM the one wwhos wweird for likin scarvves  
CAC: :33 < mewre not weird fur liking scarves  
CAC: >:// < mewre weird fur being a weird cr33py fishface  
CAC: :33 < the scarves are just a bonus weirdness  
FCA: yeah yeah lovve you too  
CAC: XPP < ewwwwwwwww!  
FCA: hey kar you still havve the offer open cause i can use some vvariety in my scarf wwardrobe  
FCA: as much as i like the one i havve noww i need somethin neww  
FCG: YEAH SURE WHATEVER.  
FCG: SERIOUSLY, THIS SHIT IS ADDICTING, NO WONDER KANAYA’S ALWAYS MAKING CLOTHES.  
FGA: Youre Welcome  
FGA: And Nepeta  
FGA: I May Just Take You Up On That Offer  
FGA: You Do Have The Most Expertise In The Group  
FGA: Other Than Equius Of Course  
CCT: D -- > I believe in this case, it w001d behoof me to step aside for now  
CCT: D -- > Nepeta would certainly be far more impartial than I would, being that I lived quite close to Miss Serket  
CCT: D -- > And there tr001y is no better moirail than her  
CAC: :33 < how can i be the best meowrail  
CAC: :33 < when clearly YOU are the best meowrail??  
CAC: :33 < there is simply no compurrtition.  
FCG: YOU TWO KEEP GOING WITH THIS AND *I’M* GONNA GET FUCKING PALE VAPORS BY PROXY.  
FGA: You Two Are Very Cute And Perfect For Each Other  
FGA: Thank You Nepeta  
CAC: :33 < just troll me whenefur!!  
CAC: :ss < well, within reason, i mean  
CAC: :33 < a girls gotta sl33p, after all!  
FGA: Haha Yes Thats True  
FGA: I Am Still Trying To Adjust My Sleeping Schedule To Everyone Elses  
FGA: Its Harder Than I Expected  
FCG: YOU’LL BE FINE. DON’T WORRY SO MUCH ABOUT IT.  
FCG: LIKE YOU TOLD ME, TAKE YOUR TIME.  
FCG: HEY NEPETA, YOU’RE GOING TO WANT TO BE CAREFUL WITH THE QUESTS.  
FCG: WHOEVER DESIGNED THESE SHITHIVE QUESTS CLEARLY DOESN’T HAVE A FUNCTIONING NODE IN HIS PUZZLE SPONGE.  
FCG: FUCK, WHERE THE HELL IS EVERYONE ELSE?  
CGC: H3LL 1F 1 KNOW, TO B3 HON3ST  
FCG: YOU BEING HONEST? THERE’S A SURPRISE.  
CGC: 1 L13 ON3 T1M3 4ND YOU N3V3R L3T 1T GO  
FCG: THE WOOFBEASTS WERE CULLED OF COURSE I’M NOT GOING TO LET IT GO!  
FCG: THERE’S NOTHING WORSE IN A MOVIE THAN INNOCENT FAUNA BEING CULLED FOR NO REASON.  
CGC: BL4R  
CGC: OK4Y YOUR3 R1GHT ON TH4T >:[  
CGC: BUT YOU ST1LL L1K3D TH3 MOV13 R1GHT?  
FCG: MAYBE. I NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY THE ACCUSATION.  
CGC: TH4T COUNTS 4S 4N 4DM1SS1ON OF GU1LT 1N TH1S L4WBLOCK  
CGC: TH3 PROS3CUT1ON R3STS H3H3H3H3!  
CAC: :33 < which movie was it?  
FCG: IT WAS THE ONE IN WHICH A BRONZE BLOOD TRIES TO BECOME A HUNTER WITH TWO WOOFBEASTS AT HIS SIDE AND HE RAISES THEM FROM THEIR WIGGLING DAYS, AND THEY GROW UP BUT THEN ONE DIES DEFENDING HIM FROM A RAGING CHOLERCOUGAR.  
CAC: :33 < oh that one!!!  
CAC: :cc < as much as i liked it, it made me so sad  
CCT: D -- > Oh my god  
CCT: D -- > That movie was heartbreaking  
CCT: D -- > I need a towel before I start crying again  
CCT: D -- > Those poor woofbeasts  
FCG: I CAN HONESTLY SAY I NEVER EXPECTED TO AGREE WITH YOU ON A SINGLE THING AND THAT MY FLABBER IS OFFICIALLY GASTED.  
FCG: BUT THAT MOVIE DID BREAK MY BLOOD PUSHER.  
FGA: I Read The Book But Didnt See The Movie  
FGA: To Be Honest After Reading The Book I Cried For A Day And Couldnt Bear To Watch The Movie  
FGA: Those Precious Woofbeasts Were So Loyal To Their Master  
FGA: I Dont Even Think Master Is The Right Word For It  
\- PAST adiosToreador [PAT] 29 MINUTES AGO responded to the memo -  
PAT: i KNOW, eXACTLY WHAT MOVIE YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT  
PAT: aND EVEN WITH THE COMMUNING ABILITIES, oF MOST BRONZE BLOODS, hE HAD AN INCREDIBLE CONNECTION WITH THE WOOFBEASTS  
\- PAST terminallyCapricious [PTC] 17 MINUTES AGO responded to the memo -  
PTC: AwWwWw YeAh BrO, tHaT mOvIe WaS tHe ShIiIiIiT :o)  
PTC: eVeN iF i BaWlEd LiKe A mOtHeRfUcKeR  
FCG: WHERE THE EVER LIVING FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN, GAMZEE? I WAS STARTING TO THINK YOU WERE THINKPAN DEEP IN PIES AND HAD FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT US.  
PTC: Aw HeLl No BrO, dIdN’t MeAn tO AlL Up aNd wOrRy mY MoThErFuCkIn bEsT BrO.  
PTC:I’Ve jUsT BeEn wAnDeRiNg mY PlAnEt, tRyInG To fIgUrE ThIs sHiT OuT, YoU KnOw?  
PTC: StIlL NoT AlL SuRe wHaT I’M SuPpOsEd tO Do :o(  
PCA: an here i cant evven get TO any a my quests  
PCA: i knoww your pain gam  
FCG: OH YEAH, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT QUESTS WASN’T IT?  
CAC: :33 < nice to know i can be so easily furgotten! XPP  
FCG: SHIT, THAT WASN’T WHAT I MEANT BY THAT.  
FCG: SORRY.  
CGC: YOU SHOULD B3! HOW COULD YOU D3R41L H3R M3MO L1K3 TH4T?  
FCG: OH LIKE YOU WEREN’T PART OF IT.  
CAC: XOO < GUYS!!!!  
CAC: :33 < i apurreciate the apawlogy but its okay! r33lly! i think its like what you said karcat!  
FCG: WHAT DID I SAY AGAIN?  
CAC: :33 < about having to do my quests with efurryone! i did one with equihiss already which was furry successful!  
CCT: D -- > I can’t take all of the credit Nepeta  
CCT: D -- > I was simply the STRONG troll  
CCT: D -- > You were the mastermind who completed the quest 100%  
CAC: :33 < but i couldnt pawsibly have done it without you! so it was cl33rly a joint effurt! and i think that my other quests have to be done like that too!  
CAC: :33 < at least until i level up enough to access a couple doors  
CAC: :33 < so i guess i should look at them and figure out which ones to do furst!  
FCG: IN THAT CASE, YOU WANNA COME BY AND HELP ME OUT WITH A QUEST?  
FCG: I ALREADY GOT ONE FINISHED WITH TEREZI AND THERE WAS A DOOR WITH YOUR ASPECT SYMBOL WITH MINE NEXT TO HERS SO I FIGURE WHY NOT KNOCK OUT TWO FEATHERBEASTS WITH ONE STONE?  
CAC: :33 < sure! can i come by tomorrow? im still a little tired  
CAC: :// < blacktea fish are tricky to cook the excess tea out of!  
FCG: YEAH NO PROBLEM. JUST TROLL ME BEFOREHAND.  
CGC: Y34H 1M GONN4 DO SOM3 MOR3 3XPLOR1NG MYS3LF TH3N  
CGC: 1 GOT 4 F3W 1NT3R3ST1NG L34DS ON TH1S G4M3 >:D  
PTC: ShIt dRaGoNsIs yOu tHiNk yOu cAn sToP By fOr aLl oF A FeW MiNuTeS ThEn? MaYbE YoU CaN GeT A BeTtEr uNdErStAnDiNg oF WhAt i gOtTa dO  
PTC: I WaNnA Be gReAt aT ThIs tOo bUt lIkE HeLl i dUnNo wHeRe tO EvEn bEgIn, ShIt’s a lItTlE OvErWhElMiNg yOu gEt wHaT I MeAn mOtHeRfUcKeR?  
CGC: SUR3 1LL H3LP  
CGC: MY PL4N3T F1RST THOUGH! >;]  
PTC: AwWw YeAh, MoThErFuCkIn MiRaClEs :o)  
FCG: WELL ANYWAY.  
FCG: SO WAS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANTED TO SAY NEPETA?  
CAC: :33 < hmm...nope! that was it! so i’ll s33 you tomorrow then?  
FCG: SURE, IT’S A DATE.  
CCT: D -- > E%cuse me  
CGC: G4SP!  
PTC: :oO  
PCA: oh an im the one wwhos forwward  
FCG: IT’S A FIGURE OF SPEECH!  
FCG: BESIDES, IF I WERE TO MAKE A DATE, I WOULD PICK SOMETHING FAR MORE ROMANTIC THAN QUESTING.  
CAC: :33 < h33h33, you are the romance expurrt after all!  
FCG: THANK YOU, IT’S NICE TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED, CONSIDERING HOW MANY PEOPLE KEEP COMING TO ME FOR ADVICE.  
FCG: ERIDAN.  
PCA: thanks kar throww me under the fast movvin group transportation vvehicle wwhy dontcha  
CAC: >:33 < h33h33h33!  
CAC: :33 < in that case ill just close the memo!  
CGC: 1LL S33 YOU L4T3R N3P3T4!  
CGC: B3T W3LL H4V3 SOM3 R34LLY GOOD QU3STS TO DO TOG3TH3R >:D  
CAC: :33 < defurnitely!  
FGA: And I Suppose Ill Try To Do Some More Exploring Of My Volcano  
FGA: Perhaps I Missed Something Before  
FGA: In Any Case I Shall Troll You Later Nepeta  
CCT: D -- > And the same for me  
PAT: aND, iF YOU WANT SOME HELP, yOU CAN, uH, aSK ME IF YOU NEED IT TOO, PTC: YeAh, SeE yA lAtEr CaTsIs, MaYbE wE cAn JuSt TaLk If YoU nEeD aNy HeLp :o) HoNk!  
CAC: :33 < h33h33 sure! ill talk to mew all later!  
\- CAC closed the memo -

Nepeta sat back against her chair, twirling her tablet pen thoughtfully. That had been a...very interesting memo. Sure, there had been a little bit of a thrill when Karkat had said it was a date, but like he said, it was a figure of speech! He probably didn’t mean anything by it. And when she saw how Vriska and Kanaya were interacting, it had made something inside her twist in a painful and uncomfortable manner. That was definitely a moirallegiance turning sour. And with how Terezi and Karkat were...hm. That was definitely odd. But she hoped this meant that Terezi would stop avoiding her now!

Before she could make any notes on her current observations or even plan out what to do, a new Trollian chat window distracted her, as did the pretty pink text. She hadn’t talked to Feferi very often, but now was a good time as any to do so!

CC: ) (i Nepeta! ) (ow’re you?  
AC: :33 < hi feffurry! im purretty good, just resting at my hive  
AC: :33 < its b33n purretty busy going after all these imps for grist!  
CC: Gos) (, I know how t) (at eels! I ) (aven’t been able to mako it too far past my ) (ive too. I can’t even get to any of my conc) (sort villages yet!  
CC: W) (ale, that and kelping Sollux on ) (is planet too. T) (ose brains can be reelly nasty!  
AC: :33 < r33lly? i thought his planet was supposed to have brains!  
CC: It is, but t) (ey reelly aren’t ferry nice atoll! If we’re not careful, t) (ey’ll attack us! T) (ey use t) (ese weird ribbon like t) (ings to try and ) (it you!  
CC: Once t) (ey s) (ot one at one of Sollux’s salamanders and it took us FOR--EV--ER to get t) (e stuff off it! Poor t) (ing kept babbling and giggling 38c  
CC: ) (e’s okray now t) (oug) (! I t) (ink t) (ose ribbons are like t) (oug) (ts, and t) (ey try to suck up your life wit) ( t) (em!  
AC: :OO < oh no!!! are you sure he’s okay? that sounds scary!  
CC: It is, but I made s) (ore ) (e was okray! Kind of a Lifey thing.  
CC: Sollux and I are opposites in aspects, so I t) (ink t) (at’s partly w) (y we get along so well! ) (e’s acs) (oally pretty cute.  
CC: W) (en ) (e’s not being a grumpy gills anywave.  
AC: :33 < so 22 purrcent of the time?  
CC: ) (a) (a something like that!  
CC: ) (e’s acs) (oally part of the reason I’m trolling you!  
AC: :33 < oh?  
CC: W) (ale, ) (im and -Eridan. 38/  
AC: :// < oh  
AC: :33 < well whats up?  
CC: I saw you offering to kelp Kanaya, and I was ) (oping maybe you could suggest somet) (ing in regards to t) (e situation?  
CC: I know I kind of ) (ave some reddis) ( feelings for Sollux, but at the same time I just broke up with -Eridan last week! W) (at if t) (is is some kind of rebound t) (ing?  
CC: At t) (e same time I don’t want to ) (urt -Eridan any more t) (an I already ) (ave, you know w) (at I mean? I am ) (owever nervous t) (at ) (e may end up ) (ating me and ) (e turns pitc) ( for me! -Even t) (oug) ( I’d rat) (er be fronds.  
AC: :cc < im sorry youre in such a tough situation! i can s33 why you asked for help  
AC: :33 < maybe instead of worrying so much about pawlux you can just s33 where things go! how long has it b33n since you stopped f33ling pale fur eridan?  
CC: Oh gos) (, t) (at’s a good question! I t) (ink it’s been...maybe a few perigees? 38?  
CC: I know it’s been definitely gone for at least one!  
CC: It just got...too tiring. T) (ere was only so muc) ( a poor girl can take! ) (e never reelly returned it too, since ) (e was always so wrapped up in ) (is own ideas and t) (oug) (ts.  
CC: To be prawnest, I only stayed wit) ( ) (im for so long because I was afraid ) (e’d do somefin R----E----ELLY stupid and krill our fronds!  
CC: I’m s) (ore you know aboat ) (is ridiculous genocidal land dweller grudge *EYEROLL*  
AC: :// < oh yes, i defurnitely do. equihiss has a grudge against sea dwellers too beclaws of it being “tradition” and other furry silly nonsense like that!  
AC: :33 < im still working on that but i think hes getting better!  
CC: I s) (ore ) (ope so! You and I bot) ( know t) (ose t) (ings like t) (e ) (emospectrum are ab-sole-utely ridiculous!  
AC: :33 < ooh good one!  
CC: T) (ank you!  
AC: :33 < but yeah, i know exactly what you mean! im still trying to find out why hes so clingy to so many old traditions from alternia ://  
AC: :33 < hes a r33lly good purrson, so i dont understand how he can be ok with such...toxic ideas  
CC: W) (ale, t) (ey ) (AV-E been a part of our society for millions of sweeps, so it can be reelly ) (ard to break away from t) (em! Some of our fronds may even ) (ave similar eelings, even if it may only be on a subconc) (sious level.  
CC: W) (en I was learning aboat everyt) (ing, I immediately made up my mind to c) (ange t) (ings for t) (e betta! It was so ) (orrible reading our ) (istory. But w) (at made me reelize just ) (ow muc) ( ) (AD to be c) (anged was t) (e story of t) (e Signless!  
AC: :oo < you know about the signless???  
CC: ) (is rebellion is an --EXTR--EM--ELY important part of ) (istory! If ) (e ) (adn’t been t) (e first to question our society, t) (e impact of t) (e Summoner’s rebellion wouldn’t ) (ave N-EARLY been as strong!  
CC: T) (e ) (istory books were awful in t) (eir descriptions, but I just wis) ( I could ) (ave met ) (im! ) (e was suc) ( an inspirational leader! But it’s reelly ) (ard to find any of ) (is teac) (ings 3BC  
AC: :33 < i have them actually!  
CC: You do?  
AC: :33 < yep! my ancestor was the disciple! i found her journal hidden r33333333lly d33p in my cave! i think she even lived there because of the cave drawings where i found it!  
CC: 38O  
CC: Nepeta.  
CC: PL--------EAS-------E can I take a look? At bot) ( t) (e cave drawings and t) (e journal! It’s so important to me to know ) (is full teac) (ings!  
AC: :33 < hmm…  
AC: :33 < only if you help me out with a few quests! :33 sound fair?  
CC: Ferry fair! 38D T) (ank you SO MUCH! O) (, but w) (at s) (oald I do aboat -Eridan? I completely forgot aboat t) (at dilemma!  
AC: :33 < you dont want to be pitch, thats fur sure! so instead just...try to be civil i guess?  
AC: :33 < you know how intense that sort of pitch pairing might be. the whole ‘hes flushed shes pale’ trope. except without even the ‘shes pale’ purrt anymore!  
CC: W) (y is t) (at trope efin a t) (ing? Especially w) (en it always gets split t) (at way gender wise! It doesn’t mako any sense.  
CC: But you’re right. I definitely don’t want t) (at kind of a relations) (ip.  
CC: O) ( boat pun! ) (a) (a!  
CC: Civility s) (all be my middle name! T) (anks again Nepeta! You reelly are AMAZING w) (en it comes to relations) (ip advice! Espes) (oally pale!  
CC: But t) (en again, you are t) (e first of us to ) (ave pale serendipity! 3PD  
CC: O) ( cod t) (at’s awful never mind.  
AC: :?? < what do you mean?  
CC: My sealy attempt at a winking face! It looks so stupid 3BT  
AC: :33 < well the 8 is suppawsed to be your goggles, right? so you should purrobably take them off befur you wink! ;33  
AC: :33 < like… 38;) or something  
CC: O) (! T) (at’s reelly cute, t) (anks!  
CC: Wow, at t) (is rate you s) (oald start c) (arging people boonbucks for your ) (elp! You could make a krilling!  
AC: ;33 < hake a krilling  
AC: :33 < hake is a kind of fish! i used to catch them all  
AC: :// < the time in the rivers near my hive  
AC: :33 < sorry, hand slipped and sent it early  
CC: ) (a ) (a ) (a! I t) (oug) (t it was a Troll Pokemon reference! And t) (at’s awesome! I reelly know mainly saltwater fis) (, so it’s always good to know more fis) ( to expand my ) (arpuns!  
CC: And yes, t) (at IS a combination of ) (arpoons and puns 3B)  
CC: Did you ever play t) (e games?  
AC: :33 < yes actually!! purrezi introduced me to them, and i spent a long time getting my purrfect team togefur  
AC: :33 < its entirely purrdictable but i dont care  
AC: :33 < i still manage to win most of my battles so it doesnt matter  
CC: We s) (oald trade game IDs t) (en! It’s getting boring just playing Sollux. My ID is 12031992!  
AC: :33 < mines 30031994!  
CC: GR-EAT! O) (, I gotta go, -Eridan’s trolling me for ) (elp wit) ( fortifying ) (is ) (ive.  
CC: I betta mako s) (ore ) (e doesn’t get ) (imself krilled by an angel. *-EY-EROLL*  
AC: :33 < yeah, okay  
AC: :33 < i should purrobably s33 if i can catch any ofur fish than these blacktea ones, theyre tasty but i get r33lly twitchy after a few, and i k33p running off all the excess energy and f33ling hungry again!  
AC: :?? < maybe purrezi’s planet has some kind of meat that isn’t sugar-based  
CC: If you need any more food I know t) (e rivers of dew on my planet ) (ave fres) ( fis) (! You’re welcome to come by and get w) (atever you need! And I promise t) (ey aren’t sugar-based too! Sounds like you’re getting a sugar ) (ig) ( w) (enever you eat t) (ose fis) (!  
CC: Ug) (, -Eridan’s getting impatient. I gotta go. Talk to you later Nepeta! Glub glub glub! 38D  
AC: :33 < bye fefurry! s33 you soon!  
\- cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC] -

  
Nepeta hid a yawn as she closed out of her Trollian client, deciding that now was the right time for a nap. As she started to get ready to climb into her recuperacoon, she looked at her shipping wall in idle speculation. What would become of everyone?


	6. One Step at a Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that this chapter is a bit late! I've been a little busy and also it gave me a bit of trouble writing, especially when it came to the title! I hope you all enjoy this nice little insight into Aradia's situation!

MgTi: You understand now why it’s imperative that you stay within your timeline?  
AA: i d0 but it feels wr0ng  
AA: i d0nt have any 0ther reas0n t0 stay except f0r what y0uve t0ld me  
AA: and if i d0 g0 t0 the alpha timeline therell still be an0ther where i d0nt right  
AA: it feels wr0ng n0t t0 g0 help  
AA: the alpha timeline is m0re imp0rtant than us  
MgTi: Now, Miss Megido, that’s certainly not true!  
MgTi: Every choice is important, and every life as well as every death is just as important. My comrades and I are working on keeping yours from falling apart, which would release the virus. By staying where you are, you keep it contained.  
AA: i guess my bigger questi0n is  
AA: why am i still imp0rtant  
AA: im just a gh0st in a sprite inhabiting a r0b0t ribbit  
AA: what can i d0  
MgTi: Believe you me, I completely understand. As Time players, we are far more sensitive to our own mortality than others, except perhaps for the Doom players. That is, for normal players I suppose. Almost all of our players have lived for centuries, in both our passage of years and your passage of sweeps. Only ten did not have our lifespans, and they were accidentally pulled into our game.  
MgTi: So when we came into the game and were able to do anything without causing damage to our, ah, responsibilities, we went a little…  
MgTi: Murder crazy.  
MgTi: I admit to being a right twat about it as well, but it only lasted for approximately 2.387 weeks. Then I became more in tune with Time, and I soon experienced the same ennui you are. The lack of importance even if your aspect is absolutely necessary. Wondering whether they actually need you. Feeling alone when you’re surrounded by friends.  
AA: what helped y0u  
MgTi: A few stubborn friends, and truly the most wonderful partner I could have been blessed with. In your terms she would be my matesprit.  
MgTi: When my outlook on life turned too bleak, she became my light in the darkness, my shining star in the skies.  
MgTi: Even if her closest friend is an insufferable little titch who drives me up the wall with her inane comments and her snide wit, I wouldn’t trade my matesprit for the world.  
AA: s0 friends and a l0ver help  
AA: what if y0u think y0ure incapable 0f l0ve  
MgTi: Love comes in many forms, dear. Be it friendship, romance, the four quadrants you have created, or any variations of them. Only someone who is truly sick in the head is incapable of making any emotional connections with others.  
MgTi: Even people who may seem to be sick may surprise you with their own insecurities and concerns.  
MgTi: And I can assure you that you are most definitely capable of love.  
MgTi: Why not reach out to the others?  
AA: ill think ab0ut it  
AA: maybe y0ure right  
AA: but maybe y0ure als0 wr0ng  
MgTi: If someone as lowly as I could make friends and somehow attract a woman who deserves all the riches in the world if I could give them to her, someone as smart and clever and lovely as you can surely make friends with your peers.  
AA: y0u cant be that bad  
MgTi: I’m working on it. I’m certainly a better person now than I used to be.  
AA: y0u really think s0  
AA: that im w0rth everything y0u said and that pe0ple really d0 care  
AA: even if they deserve better than y0u  
MgTi: I know it.

* * *

Aradia tapped her fingers along the wall of yet another chunk of quartz that peppered her landscape. The metallic sound that came from the action reverberated in the quiet, and she found herself feeling a bit glad that the atmosphere wasn’t quite so oppressive. There was a lot on her mind now, and she didn’t know what to do.

Obviously it was best not to actually tell the others what was wrong until the time was right. Paradoxes were a bitch to avoid. But she did however know that she couldn’t keep it hidden for much longer. At the very least, not by herself. She remembered what Mr. Kirkland had told her about staying grounded. Perhaps she should reach out, just like he did. But to whom?

Her chat client moved across her vision, an admittedly easier way of talking with the others than with the old computer. It wasn’t even a husktop, but she still loved it. Or, she did before she died. Did she still love it? There were fond strong emotions in regards to the strange object with the asshole on the back. Was it really her though? Was it just a facsimile aided by the electronic pulses of the soulbot?

Maybe she needed a dose of cheer, and judging by the list of friends online, there was one who was most definitely overflowing with it.

AA: hell0 feferi  
CC: O) (! S) (ello Aradia! I didn’t expect to ) (ear from you!  
CC: W) (ich now that I t) (ink aboat it is terribubbly rude! I didn’t mean t) (at, sorry!  
AA: its 0k  
AA: ive been staying away fr0m every0ne anyway s0 its n0t y0ur fault  
AA: especially when its true  
CC: 38? W) (ale maybe, but you know you don’t ) (ave to, rig) (t? No one ) (ates you!  
AA: ha  
AA: s0rry but i was thinking 0f vriska  
AA: pretty sure she still hates me  
CC: 38/ t) (at entire t) (ing sounds like a tumultuous problem! But ot) (er t) (an t) (e w) (ole debarnacle with t) (at, I don’t t) (ink anyone ) (ates you!  
CC: I certainly don’t, and I know Sollux doesn’t eit) (er! Karcrab just yells at everyone, Nepeta’s a big sweet) (eart, Kanaya’s a lovely lady, and -Eridan, w) (ale…  
CC: ) (e’s an idiot. 3B/ Stupid genocidal complex.  
AA: thats a pretty str0ng 0pini0n ab0ut him  
AA: are y0u sure y0u d0nt hate him  
CC: O) ( yes, ferry s) (ore!  
CC: I was frustrated, yes, but I know t) (at it’s definitely for t) (e best if we stay away from eac) ( ot) (er yet act civilly!  
CC: Cod knows I don’t want to be pitc) ( for ) (im. 3BC  
AA: it s0unds like a very difficult pr0blem  
CC: Oh buoy, is it!  
CC: But I’m managing and doing pretty w) (ale. What aboat you thoug) (? W) (at broug) (t you to my trollian window?  
AA: n0thing really  
AA: well  
AA: i sh001dnt say that  
AA: im just fl0ating ar0und my planet  
AA: i did want t0 ask y0u y0ur input 0n s0mething but  
AA: i really am n0t sure h0w t0 say this its actually a l0t harder than i th0ught  
CC: It’s okray! Just ) (ake your time!  
CC: O) (, time pun unintended!  
AA: haha  
AA: well  
AA: pr0mise n0t t0 tell any0ne? it isnt the right time yet but i really need t0 talk t0 s0me0ne ab0ut this  
AA: ribbit  
CC: Of course! T) (is’ll stay strictly between us! W) (at’s wrong?  
AA: its the timeline  
AA: its supp0sed t0 be d00med but its n0t  
AA: theres 0ther f0rces at w0rk keeping us alive which t0 m0st w001d be a great thing but t0 me it feels wr0ng  
AA: it feels wr0ng t0 stay because i cant help but feel that the alpha timeline needs me  
AA: but at the same time i need t0 stay 0r else y0u die  
AA: and i need t0 be s0 careful ab0ut time parad0xes and 0ther pr0blems like that s0 y0ure the 0nly 0ther pers0n wh0 kn0ws yet  
CC: 38O  
CC: T) (at’s…  
CC: T) (at’s a lot to ) (ake in!  
CC: And you’ve been keeping it in all to yours) (ellf?  
AA: yes  
AA: then again theres been a l0t ive kept t0 myself because 0f the game  
AA: like the team sc0urge team charge fiasc0  
AA: and me dying  
AA: and me killing vriska t0 help her t0 g0d tier  
AA: ir0nically her being a thief makes it s0 that her cheating t0 g0d tier s0 early in the game is alm0st beneficial  
AA: n0t perfectly but it had t0 happen  
AA: and then 0nce we were in the medium i was c0ntacted by an 0utside party wh0 said we had t0 keep g0ing 0r else were g0ing t0 die as well as all iterations 0f 0ur timeline  
AA: and he said that as time players we tend t0 end up l0st in ennui and t0 help us we need friends and just l0ve in general  
AA: but it cant be that simple can it  
CC: Ps) (! Of course it can!  
CC: W) (y wouldn’t it be?  
AA: 100k at me feferi  
AA: im just a fr0g sprite in a s0ul b0t  
AA: h0w w001d i even kn0w whether 0r n0t my feelings are true and what are just a pale shad0w 0f my 0riginal em0tions facilitated by the r0b0tic b100d pusher inside me  
AA: well whats left 0f it anyway  
CC: 38? W) (at ) (appened?  
AA: it was c0rrupted and i yanked it 0ut and destr0yed it  
AA: equius did make me a new 0ne th0ugh t0 keep the b0t functi0ning  
CC: T) (at’s good!  
CC: But I don’t t) (ink you being a robot girl ) (as ANYFIN to do wit) ( keeping you from feeling emoceans!  
AA: it d0esnt  
CC: Nope!  
CC: Just because it isn’t t) (e same as before, it definitely doesn’t mean you’re INCAPABL-E of emoceans at all! It may just be a little…  
CC: Weaker?  
CC: Not as strong as w) (at you felt before, but t) (at could be t) (e sprite deal!  
CC: BUT!  
CC: You are still t) (e cute girl Sollux likes and t) (e girl I’d LOV-E to be fronds wit) (!  
AA: what  
AA: what d0 y0u mean s0llux still likes me  
CC: Oops.  
CC: W) (ale, don't tell ) (im I told you, but you’re ) (is screen saver on ) (is s) (ellp) (one!  
AA: i am  
AA: ??  
CC: I am pretty s) (ore ) (e misses you! But ) (e’s too scared to say anyfin!  
AA: but  
AA: but why  
AA: im just a dead girl  
AA: why w001d he miss me when he has y0u  
CC: 38O  
CC: Aradia, do you R--E--ELLY t) (ink you’re replaceable?  
AA: i d0nt think i sh001d answer that  
CC: W) (AT?!?!  
CC: O) ( no, I’m coming over RIG) (T NOW and we’re going to ) (ave a good long TALK young lady!  
CC: Sea you in five minnows!  
AA: feferi wait!

\- cuttlefishCuller [apocalypseArisen[AA] -

Aradia sighed as she tossed the chat client away with a flick of her eyes. Still, a faint smile curled her lips as she started to float over to her first gate. Maybe Mr. Kirkland was right. Maybe there really was hope for her yet. Even though she still wasn’t sure about her own emotions, she could feel the core of her ectoplasmic being give a little pulse of happiness when she spotted the seadweller. And when she was nearly crushed in the tight tackle of a hug that Feferi gave her, that pulse only strengthened. 

She could get used to this. 


	7. Close Spaces, Green Places

\- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling arsenicCatnip[AC]-

GA: Miss Leijon Are You There  
GA: This Isnt A Bad Time Is It  
AC: :33 < not at all!!!  
AC: :33 < im actually not doing anything except trying to figure out my next quest  
AC: :ss < equihiss has helped me with a couple of them that had his symbol with mine but otherwise i havent gotten any further!  
GA: Well  
GA: If There Are Any With Mine Perhaps We Could Do A Few Together  
GA: Perhaps That Would Help You   
AC: :33 < purrhaps  
AC: :33 < somehow i f33l like the opurrtunity would be of more help to mew than it would be to me!  
AC: :ss < i mean, maybe itll help you come up with an idea fur how to light the forge?  
AC: :33 < equius said he recognized something in one of my coopurrative quests with him for a quest he has on locas.   
GA: He Did  
GA: What Was It Exactly  
GA: I Mean Honestly At This Rate Im Wondering If Im Actually Right For This Role  
GA: Wouldnt Eridan Or Feferi Be Better For This  
GA: Due To All The Water I Mean  
AC: :33 < well the point of lighting the furge is purrsumably to get rid of the water  
AC: :33 < but theres nothing saying mew cant ask them fur help!!  
AC: :// < maybe that’s the whole point of my dumb quests?  
AC: :33 < coopurration being furced somewhere might entice it to be done willingly elsewhere, who knows  
GA: That Is An Interesting Assumption  
GA: Karkats Are Somewhat Similar  
GA: Except They Seem To Be Um  
GA: Relationship Building Exercises Almost  
GA: Its Very Hard To Explain Properly  
GA: As If The Quests Are Meant For Him To Make Friends With Everyone Through The Different Quests  
GA: The Tapestry One Was Our First Quest Together And We Grew Rather Close In A Relatively Short Amount Of Time In Retrospect  
GA: But In Any Case When Would You Like To Attempt A Quest Together  
GA: Im Available  
GA: Well  
GA: Any Time To Be Perfectly Honest  
AC: :33 < im fr33 right now if mew want  
AC: :33 < theres a spacy quest about thr33 clicks to the north furom my hive.   
GA: Wonderful  
GA: I Shall See You Soon Then  
GA: Is There Anything In Particular I Should Wear  
GA: Or Are My Usual Garments Satisfactory  
AC: :33 < youll want something mew can climb a mountain in  
AC: :33 < most of my quests are like that  
AC: :33 < climb a mountain, open a door, and THEN you get to do the questy bit.  
GA: I Shall Emulate Trolliana Jones In That Case  
GA: Goodness I Need To Make Myself A Pair Of Trousers Then  
GA: I Just Realized My Wardrobe Is Almost Exclusively Skirts  
GA: Give Me An Hour And I Shall Be At Lolcat  
AC: :33 < s33 you then!  
AC: :33 < ill be sticking around my hive then  
AC: :33 < do you have a tea purrefurence?  
AC: :33 < theres all kinds of tea here  
AC: :33 < ive b33n kind of collecting them!  
GA: Oh Lovely  
GA: Im Partial To Black Teas Actually  
GA: Though At Times Chamomile Is Lovely  
GA: Or In Your Case Chameowmile  
GA: That Does Remind Me However  
GA: How Are You Feeling  
GA: I Mean After Your Um  
GA: Sugar Rush The Other Day  
AC: :ss < well um  
AC: :33 < i asked my consorts which teas arent sugary  
AC: :33 < they said most of them are gonna be  
AC: :33 < just beclaws of the nature of my planet  
AC: :33 < hopefurry though if im careful i wont get that bad of a sugar rush again  
AC: :33 < and if i ease myself into it i might get used to drinking tea purretty regularly!  
AC: :33 < ill check and s33 if i have any black or chameowmile  
AC: :33 < im kinda purrtial to the gr33n teas myself  
AC: :33 < so ive b33n sorta collecting those in purrticular  
GA: White Teas Tend To Be Less Sugary Than Others  
GA: I Also Recommend Eating Something With The Tea In Order To Combat Its Inherent Sweetness  
GA: Similar To How Its Recommended To Eat When Consuming Alcohol So That You Dont Absorb Too Much Of It At One Time  
GA: Im Glad That You Seem To Be Much Better Though  
GA: I Dont Know Who Was More Startled Myself Or Grubmother  
AC: :33 < i dont remempurr much of it to be pawnest  
AC: x33 < equius says i was half incoherent when he picked me up  
AC: x33 < rambling on about the hunt and all sorts of my usual  
AC: :33 < i dont know what had him so worried, it sounded purretty standard fur how i was befur i met him!  
GA: The Rocket Claws Were A Surprise Thats For Certain  
GA: As Was Your  
GA: Um  
GA: Altercation With Miss Pyrope  
GA: Are You Two On Good Terms Still Or Is There Something Wrong Between You Two  
GA: If I May Inquire Of Course  
AC: :ss < well i mean we spurred all the time back on alternia  
AC: :33 < she was one of my closest ‘neighbors’ so to sp33k  
AC: x33 < oh! unintentional horsepun  
AC: x33 < equius has purrtainly b33n a big influence on me h33h33  
AC: :ss < but shes nefur really b33n this bummed out whenefur i won befur?  
AC: :ss < im kinda worried  
AC: :ss < shes b33n more or less avoiding me!  
GA: Oh My  
GA: I Hope It Doesnt Get Any Worse  
GA: In Any Case I Should Make These Trousers  
GA: We Can Discuss This More In Depth When I Reach Your Hive  
GA: So I Shall See You In An Hour  
AC: :33 < s33 mew then! we can talk more about you and vwhiskers  
AC: ;33 < and i guess if mew want to pawspisticize some more mew can do that too *ac rolls her eyes furry fondly*  
GA: Wait What  
AC: :33 < h33 h33! s33 you soon!

\- arsenicCatnip [AC] has ceased trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA] -

GA: Oh  
GA: Oh My  
GA: Hm  
GA: Maybe I Should Prepare My Contracts Then  
GA: Just In Case

grimAuxiliatrix [GA] has ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC] -

Kanaya, very carefully dressed in sturdy pants and boots which felt utterly strange to her usual attire, landed quite gently on the landing under Nepeta’s gate. Considering how bright her former abode was, she was already fond of the light from Skaia reaching the planet. Though she had to admit, the infinite sugar cubes were almost overpowering.

It didn’t take her long to make her way from the gate to Nepeta’s hive. The cave now had a door, which was already marked by the pale pink blood of what she assumed were the underlings on her planet. It wasn’t her personal decorating style, but she did admire the skill of the drawing. The arch of the doorway, even though it was covered by a delineating tarp, was marked up with small, intricate scenes -- clearly done by claw marks and later filled in by the blood -- of various hunting expeditions and quests that Nepeta had already done on her planet. Nepeta had improved since the last time she had seen any drawings. Shaking free from contemplating the rather terrifying painting, she knocked.

The tarp fluttered freely, even though the material was heavy. “Feel free to just come in, Kanaya!” Nepeta called out from within the cave, voice breathless. “I’m about ready to head out, just need a couple more things."

“Oh, thank you.” The jadeblood stepped in, being careful not to dislodge the tarp accidentally if it was possible. The cave was relatively clean, even with the set-in bloodstains of cholerbear blood and what she presumed was other fauna of Alternia. What startled her was seeing Nepeta in somewhat scandalous clothing and stretching. Kanaya didn’t realize she was staring at the curves of Nepeta’s behind for a few seconds before she snapped out of it. “Should I have come dressed in something less...covering?” she asked hesitantly.

The oliveblood, slipping up into a standing position and stretching her arms above her head (the arch of her back was almost untrollish, sinuous and shifting with the stretch itself, and her tail was swishing contentedly as she completed it. A thin, corded line of lighter skin trailed down the length of her spine), turned to offer a bright grin toward the jadeblood. “Oh, no, it’s fine, I told you we were climbing a mountain, and we are. It’s good that you’re covered, it’ll keep you from getting too banged up.” She stretched her arm across the width of her chest, which was snugly cushioned by a well-fitted sports bra, pulling at her shoulder, and in the low light it was clear and easy to see the faded lines of old scars and callouses lining her skin. Dark freckles peppered her shoulders. “There’s gonna be some pretty steep climbs. I used my rocket claws last time when I was scoping it out, but it’s been a while since I got to do a really good, intense scaling.”

“O-oh.” Suddenly Kanaya was filled with trepidation. She was by no means a lax troll, but it had been a long time since she had done anything truly strenuous. After having to cut open her lusus and obtain the Orb, there hadn’t been much else to do except all but mope around on her planet. “We won’t be going too fast, will we?” she asked nervously. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve done anything of this sort of thing, and I’m also afraid I’ll just slow you down.” Now that she observed what was under the baggy clothes and jacket, she suddenly wondered how she could have ever considered Nepeta to be relatively harmless. Her entire opinion of her friend had to be revised now. And come to think of it, perhaps her wardrobe as well. Her legs and butt were wonderfully muscular, it would be a shame to constantly cover them up.

“Oh, not to worry, we’ve got all of today!” Nepeta grinned, “You can’t really do much without lighting the forge, after all, and I’m _purr_ etty sure that Fef _furry_ and Am _purr_ a are cooperating on a quest on LODAG. They’re set to ‘do not disturb’.” The puns, it seemed, were a verbal tic as well, at least the auditory ones. “So we can take it slow and easy. I’ll help you."

Kanaya breathed a little easier, though she did keep fiddling with her sleeves. “Thank you. Though, to be honest, I’m surprised that they’re cooperating after their rather tumultuous breakup.” Her lips quirked to the side in distaste. “To be honest, I can’t help but envy them for actually trying to do so.”

Nepeta hummed, “Well, honestly, Fefurry trolled me right after the memo. We talked fur a long while about Ampurra, and, well… I was the one who told her it might be fur the best if she at least _tried_ to be civil with him? Unless she _wanted_ to dive headfurst into a blackrom of epic proportions with him.” Her own lip curled in apparent distaste. “It’s a purretty classic tale. He’s flushed, she’s pale. Always ends up those genders, too, fur some reason.”

Kanaya shuddered at the idea. “That’s very true. It’s almost as if the stories make it so that the male is in the pale zone or some silly idea like that.”

“Please don’t use that term.” Nepeta’s curl of disgust deepened. “ ‘Pale zone’. That just… throws the pale quadrant under the fast-moving locomotive.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it in that sort of way,” Kanaya hastened to explain. “I meant it as that was the general idea. Personally, I think it would be wonderful to have a proper moirallegiance and if someone is pale for you, properly, it’s one of the greatest things in the world. Like you and Equius for example, you two connect on such a deep level, it’s--” She cut herself off, looking away with dark green staining her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I started rambling. It’s such a bad habit of mine.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Nepeta sighed, loosening her stretch and shaking out her arms, before grabbing a pair of thick gloves to pull on her hands. “Pawnestly, I can’t imagine what my life would be like without Equius. He’s the best thing that efur happened to me.” her mouth curled into a small, unstoppable smile, just at the thought of her moirail. “And I just have a lot of feelings about the pale quadrant, beclaws I _know_ what pale serendipity is, and… and sometimes I think it’s even better than the flushed quadrant, when it’s done right.” Her eyes swung around to Kanaya again. “But of course, if you’re flushed fur someone and they’re in your pale quadrant, that’s just… well, not healthy, fur one. Fur you _or_ fur the relationship.”

Kanaya was quiet for a moment before she sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping. “I made it rather obvious on the last memo, didn’t I?” She rubbed her arm as if there was an itch, or nerves, it was unclear. “But the more she ignores me or snubs me, the less I feel those sort of emotions that I once did. I don’t want it to end in hate, however--least of all a terribly messy black relationship. No matter what I do, however, it seems as if she doesn’t have the time of night for me--or, day, I suppose,” she added with a faint laugh. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you though, Nepeta.” She turned her head to look at the other troll in the eye. “What do I do now?”

“Well…” Nepeta rolled her shoulders one more time, before captchaloguing two canteens full of water and a wrapped parcel of what looked like grubloaf. “Let’s actually get heading for the mountain, and we’ll talk on the way up. Beclaws this isn’t gonna be really simple, you know? I can’t give you any answer reasonably without… well, without hearing your side of things.”

“Of course. Please, lead the way.” Kanaya gestured for Nepeta to leave first. Considering what little exploring he had done, she didn’t really know what Nepeta’s planet had in store. The bright magenta underlings however shouldn't cause too many problems for the two of them. Nepeta was a fierce and powerful huntress, and she was, as much as she hated to brag, fairly adept at using her chainsaw effectively. It was just a pain to get the blood out of her clothes sometimes.

It wasn’t long before the two of them were situated at the base of a rather large sugarcube mountain, which had a cave situated close to the top of it that was visible from the base. There were more than a few sheer cliff faces, and the incline otherwise wasn’t anything to laugh at either. Kanaya was suddenly very glad that she had chosen trousers rather than skirts. Nepeta however seemed unfazed by the mountain, simply bounding forward to examine the best place to start climbing. “So! What exactly catpunned, Kanaya?”

The jadeblood fidgeted a bit and bit her lip, contemplating the best place to begin. “Well...I suppose I should start from the beginning.”

“A furry good place! How did you and Vwhiskers meet?”

“Online, we were on a chat forum for a show we both like, Troll Supernatural. We kept talking from there and when we met I…” Kanaya laughed slightly. “I fell horns over heels for her. I was in the city market picking up more fabric and we decided to meet at a cafe that day. We were getting on well so we thought, why not try moirails? It seemed to work well enough. For a while at least, but then…”

Nepeta shot her a sympathetic smile. “Your red feelings got in the way of your duty as a meowrail?”

Kanaya sighed. “Yes, you hit the nail on the head. It’s been so complicated, trying to figure out how much meddling is proper and yet I don’t want to stifle her from having fun and such. Plus, it can be very difficult for her, with her lusus.” She bit her lip and shook her head, adding, “She always did suffer from extreme bouts of guilt because of it.”

Nepeta tilted her head to the side in acknowledgement before she jumped up a good few feet, firmly grasping the hardened sugar. Satisfied that it would hold her weight, she started scrambling up like a mountain hornbeast. “This is a good path! So what exactly makes her feel so guilty?”

“Well, her lusus feeds off trolls, like how Feferi’s feeds off other lusii,” Kanaya replied, testing the handholds herself. Feeling confident that it wouldn’t crumble under her hands she began to climb, though at a slower pace than Nepeta. “So for quite a while she would use FLARPing to find trolls who would feed her lusus. Eridan would then kill the trolls’ lusii so that Feferi could take them for hers. Feferi never did like that she had to do that,” she finished, taking a deep breath. She was so glad that she had put extra canteens in her sylladex.

Nepeta hummed thoughtfully as she paused on a small plateau, looking down at Kanaya. “So Vwhiskers did what she had to in order to survive, but she feels guilty about murdering trolls at times? That makes sense, I still feel bad about the trolls I've killed.”

Kanaya paused in surprise, staring up at her as her breathing started to grow heavy. “You...you've killed before?”

The olive blood shrugged. “My territory was rich in prey and raw materials, so I was pretty well off with trading. There were several disputes, and if I didn't win I'd be the one dead. I didn't like it, but it's how it was in the wild--survival of the fittest.” She grabbed Kanaya’s hand and helped her up to the plateau.

The jade blood let out a heavy breath as she rolled her wrists to get rid of the stiffness. “I've never actually killed anyone, at least still living. The undead don't count,” she joked.

Nepeta laughed and took a drink. “True! But anyway, when did the relationship get worse?”

“Hmm…” Kanaya took a drink of her own canteen before replying, “About four or five perigees? It was a gradual decline but then the last perigee or two it picked up speed, to the point that…” She blushed and shook her head. “Oh, I feel like a two-timing pale slut for this, but I was in a pile with Karkat, and we’re practically moirails in all but name.”

Nepeta was startled, but then she laughed and clapped a bit. “That's good though! Karkat really needs a moirail since he's so busy as our leader, and I was worried he'd snap at one point! And you deserve the best meowrail too!”

“He said I did too, but what am I to do about Vriska? She deserves the best too.”

“She does…” Nepeta took another heavy swig before she stored her canteen away again. “I’ll have to think about that, but for now let’s focus on getting up to the top! You ready?”

Kanaya simply sighed and stored the canteen away as well. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She waited for Nepeta to hop up and find the best path before following. Already she could feel her muscles start to ache, and they had only climbed maybe a quarter of the way up the mountainside. It had been much too long since she had last exercised heavily, and she made a personal resolution to change that as much as possible in the future.

On the other hand, Nepeta was a master at climbing up the mountain, springing from handhold to handhold like a, well, a meowbeast. She periodically paused to check on Kanaya’s progress, but she could tell when they reached a little beyond the halfway mark--maybe two thirds--that Kanaya was going to need help the rest of the way up. When the other practically flopped on the plateau where Nepeta was waiting, she decided to speak up. “How about I give you a lift the rest of the way up?” she offered. “You can take a break and we’ll get up there faster. Plus, you’ll weigh almost nothing!” she added with a giggle.

Kanaya gasped a bit for breath and quickly chugged some of her water. “A-are you sure?” she panted, wiping her face with a handkerchief from her pocket. “I’m so sorry...for holding you back like this...I feel utterly useless…” She sniffed a bit and leaned against the sugary rock. “God, I feel like that word absolutely describes me right now. I can’t light the Forge, I’m a terrible moirail, and now I can’t keep up with you. What purpose do I even have? Sylph of Space, it sounds like a terrible joke now.”

“Hey, no, it’s not.” Nepeta crouched down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You’re _very_ important to everyone, Kanaya.” The lack of cat puns startled Kanaya into looking up at her. “I know you’re upset, and you’re feeling unimportant. I feel that way too a lot.” She gave a wry smile. “I’m usually the dumb kitty cat shipping troll who lives in a cave, remember?”

“But you’re not, Nepeta. You are so strong, and fierce and powerful. You can climb this mountain with your bare hands, and you are so kind and caring about everyone,” Kanaya pointed out. “I will admit to at times underestimating you, but I never would think any less of you.” She gave her a small sad smile. “I suppose we’re in the same boat in a way, aren’t we?”

Nepeta laughed slightly and nodded, sitting down next to her. “I guess. We’re both underestimated by our friends, and even our moirails underestimate us sometimes. I know Equius means well, but he’s just...frustrating!”

“He can be, certainly. He has this very odd habit of saying things as a command, and then adding on a question of whether or not it’s alright with me,” Kanaya mentioned with a drink of water. “It’s as if he’s trying _too_ hard to fulfill his role as a blueblood, even when he wants to give me proper respect.”

“Ugh, that’s him and his stupid hemeowspectrum stuff,” Nepeta groaned. “I’m still slowly chipping away at it, but it’s gonna take time. It’s so deeply ingrained into him, it’s purretty bad! I’m hoping soon, we’ll be able to get him out of that stupid habit!”

“It really is, isn’t it?” Kanaya shook her head with a light sigh. “He’s otherwise very nice though. He can be a bit creepy, but he’s not a bad guy at all.”

Nepeta nodded with a slight giggle. “Yeah, exactly.” She stretched her arms out with a sigh and shook her hands out. “You think you’re ready to keep going? I can piggy back you up!”

Kanaya bit her lip a moment, rubbing her own sore hands. “Are you sure? I hate to be a bother.”

“Kanayaaaaa, you’re not a bother! Come on, hop on and we’ll be up in no time!” She turned and offered her back to the other, who hesitantly climbed on. Nepeta gripped her legs and adjusted them on her hips properly, before she launched herself up. Kanaya yelped and tightened her hold which only made the oliveblood laugh a bit. “I got you!”

“I hope so!” Kanaya kept her face pressed against Nepeta’s shoulder as they continued to climb. A faint flutter of panic was in her stomach as the rock candy face quickly turned almost perpendicular to the ground. It did in fact pass quickly, which made her feel a little better once they made it to the top. “Oh goodness, that was nerve-wracking!”

“Heehee, I guess!” Nepeta let Kanaya down and gave herself a shake and a stretch. “Mmm, I feel great now! So, now we have to go in.” She gazed at the door, which was emblazoned with the Space symbol and the Heart symbol over it. “You ready?”

Kanaya nodded and helped Nepeta open it, walking inside with her. As the doors closed the lights came on, revealing a monitor set up like their hive windows, and another door that led deeper inside the mountain. Walking over to the computer, she tapped it and it came to life with a soft hum and a dark glow of the system booting up. “Hm, interesting…” The monitors finally calmed down and she read over the words on the screen.

“Potential gained, potential lost,  
Trust will always come at a cost.   
Guide the way along the path,   
And take heed of Psyche’s Wrath.   
With rising heat and falling stones   
Heart’s safety in your hands alone.”

Nepeta bit her lip thoughtfully. “I think that means I have to go down this door alone, and you have to help me through.” She looked at the door and nodded to herself. “Yep, I think so! But how do we keep in touch?”

Kanaya frowned and went over the console, finding a panel that popped out to expose two headsets. She handed one to Nepeta before popping the other onto her head, minding her horns of course. “What is this part about ‘Psyche’s Wrath’?” she asked, more to herself than anything else. “It’s capitalized, like a proper noun.”

“That… oh. That’s my Denizen’s name.” There was the faintest paling of grey to Nepeta’s face, but she shrugged it off and rolled her shoulders, giving her knuckles a good crack. “She’s keeping the tea furrrom flowing in my purrlanet somehow. So… kind of like your difficulties with the Furge? Purrhaps you have to lead me to the blockages?”

Kanaya slowly nodded, using the controls to start scrolling through different views that the monitor offered. Sure enough she could see places where tea was trapped within caves. “Well, shall we begin?”

Nepeta grinned and gave a sharp salute. “Aye aye captain! I’m off!” Making sure the headset was properly in place on her own head she dashed off beyond the door, which closed behind her with what to Kanaya was a disturbingly final sound.

Shaking her head to get that rather dark thought out of it, Kanaya focused her attention on finding Nepeta on the monitor. “How is it?”

“ _Not bad_ ,” the chipper voice chirped through the headset. “ _A little dark but there’s lots of torches with green and pink fire! It’s a little spooky_ ,” Nepeta confessed.

“Ah, found you. I agree, it is a little, ah, spooky,” Kanaya agreed. When they came to a fork in the path she frowned and, remembering the sketchbook that she had just unlocked earlier, she pulled it out to start working on a map. “Which way should we go?”

“ _Hmm_ …” The Nepeta on screen tapped her chin before taking the left hand path.

Kanaya had to flicker through the cameras before finding her again, sketching out the path as it unfolded. It soon came out along a dried up riverbed that at one end was completely blocked by rocks. “It looks like this is the first blockage to get rid of. Do you think you can?”

“ _Ha! I defurnitely can, it’ll just take some careful poking and prrrodding._ ” Kanaya watched Nepeta jump into the dried up riverbed and start to carefully examine the pile of rocks. Soon enough she climbed back onto the path and onto the top, tossing a rock out in order to take a peek at the other side. “ _The river’s dammed up in here! I’m going to get a few more rocks out of the way so I can see what I’m working with better, okay?_ ”

“Just be careful.” As Nepeta began to widen the hole Kanaya managed to find the next camera view, writing down the corresponding numbers and paths that she could recognize for the moment. Sadly the cameras weren’t in a proper sequence, which admittedly made things all the harder. Camera 4 matched path 1, camera 1 matched the left hand path, and camera 3 matched the path behind the blockage that Nepeta was slowly working on reducing. “You’ll want to trigger a collapse that’ll naturally happen, rather than remove the rocks from the bottom up.”

“ _Right._ ” Something caused Nepeta to look around worriedly. “ _Did you feel that?_ ”

“Feel what--” A faint rumble erupted from under Kanaya’s feet and she looked down in surprise. “That shake?”

“ _Yeah. I think...I think Psyche might be waking up? Or at least isn’t as asleep?_ ”

Oh no. “Psyche’s Wrath. It may be meant to stop us from destroying the blockages.”

“ _We need to go quickly then._ ” Nepeta carefully hopped down the rock pile and checked a few rocks. After a couple of seconds she grabbed one and _yanked_. If not for her fast reflexes she may well have ended up on the receiving end of a boulder. As it was, she was standing on the path once the torrent of tea came rushing over the now much-depleted rock pile. “ _Furrrst blockage gone!_ ”

“Excellent! We must keep going then, before Psyche truly tries to stop us.” Kanaya was barely able to keep track of Nepeta, hastily writing down the appropriate camera numbers according to passageway as the map blossomed slowly under her pencil. The first few blockages were relatively easy to guide Nepeta through and make the rivers flow again, but soon Kanaya noticed that the tremors were starting to occur more often. “Nepeta, I believe Psyche’s starting to realize what’s going on.”

“ _I noticed. They’re starting to get stronger too._ ” Nepeta launched herself at a rock and used it to push off, also causing another cave-in as she flipped backwards onto the river bank. “ _I think we’re almost done though! The more we clear out, the more tremors occur!_ ”

“Excellent. I have everything almost mapped out as well. I believe judging by this that we have just a few more left to clear and we’ll be done!” Kanaya exclaimed with a pleased smile. “The path on the left leads you back to a previous area, so you’ll want to take the right to the next blockage.”

“ _Got it!_ ” Nepeta gave a salute towards the cavern ceiling and took a running leap over the rushing tea, smoothly landing and running down. She kept her balance even as a surprisingly hard quake struck, whereas Kanaya had to grip the console in order not to fall. The next blockage was surprisingly easy to remove, but Nepeta had to push off the falling rocks in order to grab a hanging stalactite. She was able to swing onto the high ledge that led to the next blockage, except that the action led to the loss of the headset.

“Nepeta!”

The image on the screen apparently yelled something as she reached toward the falling headset, but it was already out of reach. The Leo wordlessly cursed and punched the wall, and then instead turned tail and rushed down the passage. She had to finish! She was almost done! Just two more!

Kanaya bit her lip as she fretted and tapped long delicate claws along the metallic sides. She was so worried, she could feel it just sit in her gut, burning a hole through her. She cared so much for Nepeta, she wanted, no, _needed_ her to be safe. Damn it! What could she do except watch?

The troll in question paused to look at the new blockage. It would take some careful jumps to kick rocks away and make it collapse. She crouched, sprung, and started to kick them away with her extraordinarily powerful legs. She made a mental note to thank Pouncesprite for all the training when being raised. Who knew it would come in handy?

As soon as the pile began to fall she let herself fall with it, grabbing the bank ledge and flipping back onto it with a soft grunt as everything shook again. A large boulder suddenly fell, nearly hitting her if not for Nepeta’s instincts screaming at her to jump out of the way. Nepeta felt her breath catch in fear.

Psyche was awakening.

Kanaya’s claws were leaving gouges in the metal that deepened with every passing second. The entire mountain was constantly shaking beneath her feet. On the one hand, it meant they were doing something right. On the other, it meant that Nepeta was coming perilously close to the end. She hated this! She couldn’t do anything! Why was it that she was once again all but useless?!

At the last blockage Nepeta was struggling to get a particularly big rock pushed out of the way. But with every second that passed, it seemed to get harder and harder. All she had to do was get this one rock out of the way and the last river would be free--!!

The strongest tremor yet shook the entire mountainside, causing the rock to suddenly be dislodged. Nepeta just managed to let out a shriek before she was swept away by the torrent of tea.

_“NEPETA!!!!”_ Kanaya’s claws broke through the metal exoskeleton of the console and caused the console itself to short circuit. She barely felt the metal gouge into her fingers and bring jade blood to start dripping onto the ground, nor did she pay attention to the sudden metallic scent that it brought. No, no, nononononono!!! This wasn’t supposed to happen! And she couldn’t go down through the mountain to get to Nepeta in time! There was no way she could save her!

Something pulsed within her as she watched Nepeta struggling to keep her head above the water, and she reached deep down and the thing stretched and squished and Kanaya could feel herself gasping for breath as she desperately wished for Nepeta to be next to her, to be safe and sound before she struck the rocks or drowned, for her friend to be alive--

There was a pop and a wet plop on the ground, followed by harsh hacking coughs. Kanaya crumpled to the ground as almost all her energy left her body. A glance over her shoulder showed a shaking Nepeta purging her body of the tea she had inadvertently swallowed. “Oh thank god,” she groaned, and then she swooned.

As she started to come back to herself she heard Nepeta fall onto the ground next to her with ragged breathing. Only then did Kanaya realize that the mountain had stopped shaking. “We...we did it,” Nepeta gasped.

Kanaya chuckled faintly. “Yes...we did…”


End file.
